Sun Kissed Treasure
by Hawk wing
Summary: He had left. No one was really coming after him. He laid there, dying slowly and painfully, all alone. The only living being that showed up held his fate in his hands. SasuNaru
1. Chapter 1

ok...the idea for this story literally woke me up at 4 in morning on friday...it sucked...i was in a deep sleep all nice and warm, and next thing i knew i was wide awake...3 little words passed through my head and the plot bunnies started spawning like crazy...i tried to get back to sleep cuz my eyes were still saying 'i want more sleep' and i had a big test in teh morning, but my mind was like 'NO! you will write this NOW!' so i obliged and started writing on this story...oi...this idea isn't as weird as 2 of my other stories...but a major change in one of the characters is absolutely weird yet it was one of teh three words that popped into my head lol

warning: ok i jus forgot...o now i remember...the begining part here will be a lil rough on the transitions but that's cuz i wrote this at 4 in the freakin morning!!

fyi: this takes place from sasuke's perspective and it's during his time with orochimaru...naruto never grew up in konoha so team kakashi has an OC to take naruto's place and the only ones running after sasuke is mainly Sakura...remember naruto ain't a konoha-nin

dis: if i owned naruto...there would be some weird story ideas and a weird character or two...so be thankful i don't own naruto lol

 

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Sasuke walked along the beach. The lair they were currently residing in was along Fire Country's coast. At first, the ocean air brought back memories of what happened in the Country in the Waves, but they were easily ignored now a days. He had no need to remember those days, as they were nothing but boring and hellish. He was weak back then, and didn't want to be reminded of it.

The sand he walked across wasn't a perfectly fine granule. It was somewhat large and pebbles were common. It wasn't one of the finer beaches around. That's why he preferred to walk here because no one was around. His reasons for walking along the beach were only known to him, but if you knew the company he traveled with, you'd have a good guess at one reason. He was pissed at Kabuto, again. The main reason for this assumption? He was radiating the cold, killing aura once more. One of the worst as of late.

That Kabuto always knew how to piss him off. Mainly, Sasuke just got irritated at smelling the man, especially when he came out of his workroom. He always reeked of rotting corpses and blood.

Sasuke's anger increased. He could smell the blood, even now. The raven glared at one of the boulders along the shoreline. He let out an irritated sigh, and froze. The smell of blood really was on the air. He took another whiff. There was a strange twang to the blood. Sasuke shrugged it off, thinking that the sea air was messing with the scent, and kept walking. The beach was starting to be cluttered by medium-sized boulders. Sometimes, hidden between them, Sasuke came across a tide pool. Each pool he found ranged in all sizes. He glanced in a few of them, but walked on. As he rounded a particularly large boulder, a huge tide pool greeted him. He walked up to its edge and looked across. The boundaries on two sides were boulders and were nearly 10 feet apart at their widest edge. The boundary on the landward side was the gently sloping beach. It ran smoothly into the calm waters. Sasuke looked across it at the far boulder edge. It was a ragged chain of rocks jutting into the ocean and blocking the constant moving of the waves. With each swell of the sea, water sprayed over the rocks and into the calm pool, causing faint ripples that danced for a few seconds and disappeared. Sasuke's eyes followed the edge and found the main source of the water. There was a gap between the two rock edges. It was only 4 feet across, making the pool look like an almost complete, rugged circle.

Sasuke felt his anger slowly ebbing away with each swell of the tide. If he had found this place earlier, he would've came to this spot more, just to control his anger and killing urges better. But, this beach was long, and this was as far as he had gotten along its shoreline.

Sasuke sighed and continued walking on along the large pool's edge. The ground was made up pebbles, rather than sand. It was because there weren't any waves to eat away at the rocks. He passed behind a boulder that was the beginning of the other boundary. Out of the sea breeze, the smell of blood was stronger. The scent didn't smell entirely human either. Feeling his irritation come back, Sasuke walked on a little faster, looking for the source of the smell. He rounded boulder after boulder with no luck. For two minutes he searched, yet there was nothing to show of it, but the smell was strong. Sasuke's irritation had turned into anger. The elusive scent was driving him crazy because he couldn't find its source. He decided upon two more boulders, then he would give up if he found nothing. The bend of the first boulder gave nothing. He rounded the second, and stopped, feeling his anger peak more. There was nothing. He turned and sliver flashed him. Pausing, he looked to his right and saw a large fishtail sticking out from behind a boulder.

All this for a fish, he thought angrily.

Letting out a small growl of rage, he walked towards the boulder. The tail kept getting longer, and, as he noticed, it started getting a blue shimmer to its scales, along with the silver. Sasuke rounded the boulder, and stopped dead. Resting in the shade of the rock was a half fish, half man, and his source of the smell of blood.

Numerous wounds criss-crossed the merman's body. Sasuke's eyes lingered on his sides. Three curved slices were moving faintly, and quickly. One set of gills was lagging behind though. It was the side that was facing the rock. Sasuke walked up to the fish man and looked at the gills on that side. A large cut ran up and down all three fragile gills. Sasuke looked up the muscle toned, and wounded, body to the golden blonde head. The merman's, or actually mer-boy's since he appeared to be only a teenager, hair was a little shorter than his. The creature's face was lax of any emotion, which was a little surprising to Sasuke since it was badly wounded. Because of the peaceful expression, he figured the mer-boy was already at death's door.

Sasuke straightened and continued looking at the well-defined figure. Salt was dried on its skin everywhere, but his tail still had some shimmer left. His stomach supported a well toned 6-pack that flowed smoothly into the tail. Where blue and silver met skin, was right at the middle of the boy's hips. The skin had started to take the shape of scales and slowly turned to blue and sliver. Sasuke's eyes followed the large fin. It too, had a few deep gashes.

The raven looked away, turned around, and started walking again. He glanced over his shoulder and stopped. Deep, pure blue eyes barely looked at him through salt covered lids. It wasn't the color of the boy's eyes that stopped him, but the pain they said. Sasuke could see all the pains ever felt in the world, running through the boy's eyes, but he could also see, faintly, a small spark to live. The blonde boy blinked once, slowly, then closed his eyes again. Sasuke looked away, but stood still. After a few minutes, with a small sound of irritation, he turned around and went back to the mer-boy. He knelt down and carefully slid his hands underneath the boy's body and picked him up, bridal style. When he was standing straight again, he glanced down at where his wounded charge had lain. The sand was soaked with blood. The raven looked down at the large heavyweight in his arms. The sun brought to light the livid bruises, as well as the countless wounds on the boy's body. He looked at his face. There were 3 parallel scars on both of his cheeks. The sun made the tousled hair seem to be alight with its rays. Shifting the boy's weight, Sasuke started walking. The fin at the end of the tail was longer than he had expected. The two edge pieces were only 2 feet off the ground.

He rounded a boulder and the large tidal pool greeted him again. Sasuke stopped and looked down at the gasping gills. Slipping off his sandals and sword, he slowly waded into the calm waters. The coolness of the water was a relief in the scorching day. Watching the boy in his arms carefully, Sasuke waded out until he was waist deep. When the water started touching the blonde's tail, he started to stir. Deep blue eyes looked up and locked onto Sasuke's black voids. Slowly, keeping his eyes fastened on the blue ones, he lowered the boy into the water. The salt burned his wounds, causing pain to crease the tanned face, but the kiss of the sea upon his gills relaxed his every muscle, and his chest moved deeply to the intake of oxygen and water.

Sasuke let the boy slowly slide from his grip. He watched as the blonde disappeared underneath the surface, gently brushing against his legs as he landed on the ocean floor. The shimmer of the water made the blue eyes and golden hair stand out even more as they looked up at Sasuke in exhaustion. He stared back, entranced, then turned back to land. The mer-boy's hands brushed against his legs as he walked back to the shore.

After two days, Sasuke found himself back at the tide pool. If you asked him why, he'd say piss off and that he was bored and angry at Kabuto. But really, he was curious if the mer-boy was still around. The sapphire eyes had haunted him every time he closed his eyes. Today, he was able to leave without notice again. He sat on the rocks closest to the far edge, right next to the ocean. His sandals and sword were left on the beach. His eyes were lost at sea. It calmed him to watch the ocean, but he didn't understand how such a restless thing could do that.

"Hello."

Sasuke glared down at the source of the voice in the calm pool, then relaxed just a little, but the blonde still ducked at the glare.

"Sorry for disturbing you," he mumbled.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked away, wondering how in the hell the blonde snuck up on him. "It's ok. I was just thinking."

"About what?" the accented voice asked.

Sasuke glared at the boy. "Nothing."

The blonde's face clouded in confusion. "How can you think about nothing?"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke looked back across the ocean.

There was silence for a total of 5 seconds.

"What's your name?"

Sasuke groaned inside. This boy was starting to annoy him already. He looked down into the innocent face that was turned up towards him. At first, names to call the boy popped into his head, but they disappeared the longer he looked at the blonde.

"Sasuke," he mumbled.

The blonde grinned. "I'm Naruto. Aren't you hot up there sitting in the sun?"

Sasuke's glare sharpened. "What do you want?"

Naruto pouted in irritation, causing a weird feeling to appear in Sasuke's chest.

"I just wanted to thank you and have a little conversation."

The raven looked back out at the ocean again. Naruto ducked farther under water until only his head showed. He shot irritated glares at Sasuke and mumbled angrily. Sasuke caught a few words. The blonde was calling him all kinds of names. The raven rolled his eyes and continued looking across the ocean, but the glare off the water was starting to hurt. He looked at the rocks across from him, but became aware of the heat baking him. Sighing, he gave up and stripped to his boxers then jumped in near the blonde. When he resurfaced, Naruto was smiling happily at him. Sasuke could see sharp teeth barely hidden by the blonde's lips.

"So, what exactly are you?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto flipped his tail once and circled Sasuke. "I think the word you humans use is "merman.""

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "There's no such thing as mermen, let alone mermaids."

"Then how do you explain this?" Naruto asked, sticking his tail up out of water.

Sasuke ignored the comment and did a few backstrokes away from the blonde. "If you're some "merman," how did you get to be so wounded?"

Naruto's smile fell. He looked away from Sasuke, making the raven's curiosity peak. "I don't want to talk about it."

Even though he was curious, the look on the blonde's face said that talking about it would cause him more pain than the actual wounds did. Sasuke dropped the topic and continued doing backstrokes.

"You're not very graceful in water, are you?" Naruto asked innocently.

Sasuke kept his anger in check. "You're not very graceful on land."

"True," Naruto said with a small smile.

He flipped his tail once more and came up beside Sasuke. The raven stood up. In the shallow water he towered over the other boy. He reached down and pulled Naruto out of the water to the point his scales were starting to show. Naruto remained relaxed, but stared at Sasuke. He ignored the look, and his thought of 'why the hell am I worried about his injuries,' and looked over the boy's wounds. The shallow cuts were scabbed over, but the deeper ones were badly irritated, yet healing. He then looked at his gills. They open and closed, but the wounded ones lagged behind and didn't open as wide as his others. Sasuke looked closer and noticed that the cut was deeper. It had cleanly separated all 3 gills on that side in half. He scowled at the wound.

Naruto noticed the scowl. "What?"

Sasuke lowered him back into the water. The question that was bugging him escaped before he could stop it. "Can you breath ok with that slice?"

Why the hell did I just ask that?!

Even though that thought screamed through his head, he remained emotionless and stared back at the blonde, waiting for an answer.

Naruto stared back, somewhat surprised at his concern. "I can't take deep breaths, or breath fast, without causing more damage to them."

Sasuke nodded once, and went back to swimming, completely calm as if nothing had happened, but it was different on the inside.

I really need to get away from this thing. I've never felt concerned about anything yet I was concerned about his wounds. If I want to kill Him, I need to get away from this blonde.

He looked over at the sun-kissed boy who was watching him calmly, trust shining in his sapphire like eyes.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" Naruto blurted out.

Sasuke shrugged and continued making laps. Naruto pouted angrily at the answer. The raven felt another strange tug inside him as he smirked. He watched Naruto racking his brains trying to come up with a way to get back at him. Sasuke sighed and floated on his back. He looked up to the clear sky with the warm water gently hugging him. It was calming. Naruto's wet head and sparkling eyes came out of nowhere above him.

"Sasuke, do you trust me?"

The raven didn't really hear the lack of honorific; he was lost in the blonde's eyes. They were a deeper shade than the darkest part of the sky during the day.

"Sasuke?"

"What are you planning?" he replied.

A frown creased Naruto's face, but to Sasuke, it only added more to the exotic boy's looks.

"I want to take you out into the open ocean, but I know how you humans aren't that good of swimmers. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Sasuke stared into Naruto's hope-filled face. He felt the boy's tail barely brush his back. It caused a shiver to run up his spine, but he didn't understand why. "Why do you want to do that?"

The blonde shrugged. "I just wanted to do something for you in return for returning me to the water."

Sasuke looked up at him emotionlessly. The other boy's face amused him. It went through more emotion in 5 minutes than anybody else's he's met in the past 16 years of his life. Right now, innocence and hope radiated from his eyes. Sasuke sighed and stood up.

He looked down at the begging face. "Fine, but not for too long."

The biggest grin yet erupted across the blonde's face and before he knew what happened, Naruto was behind him in deeper water. "Come on, Sasuke!"

The raven sighed in irritation, wondering what the hell he just agreed to. He waded out to Naruto who then held out his hands.

"Take my hands and relax. I'll pull you along."

Sasuke glared. He didn't like the prospect of holding hands with another guy.

"You might get dragged away by the surf," Naruto put in.

Sighing, Sasuke placed his hands slowly in Naruto's. He didn't feel like fighting the ocean today. Naruto smiled and tightened his grip around Sasuke and slowly started swimming backwards. Instinctively, Sasuke tensed, but relaxed when he realized Naruto really wasn't going to do anything to him. With each kick of the blonde's tail, Sasuke felt the water fly past his legs. It was a slow rhythm that increased slightly with each passing foot.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder then back at Sasuke. "Before we get into the open, I'll need you to hang onto my shoulders until I can break free of the surf."

Sasuke glared at the boy. Holding hands was bad enough. He did not want to hang off of the boy's shoulders.

Naruto chuckled nervously at the glare. "Or, you could just hold onto my hand?"

"I'll do that," Sasuke replied a little coldly.

He swore to himself that if anybody saw them swimming while holding hands, he would kill them.

The gap where the two rock boundaries almost met was coming closer. Naruto let go of one of Sasuke's hands and turned around. He started to swim faster and the flow of water past Sasuke's legs got stronger. Every now and then the raven felt the edge of Naruto's tail fin pass his shin. Naruto picked up speed and they passed through the gap. Instantly, Sasuke felt a strong tug against his body. Naruto's grip tightened around his hand as he propelled forward, faster. A swell in the ocean appeared ahead.

"Hold your breath," Naruto shouted back.

Sasuke did as was told and Naruto dived, they both passed underneath the wave and resurfaced on the other side. Naruto didn't stop. He pushed off faster and harder. Another wave appeared and Sasuke took a deep breath and held it. Naruto dived again, dragging Sasuke under as well too. The third wave was already coming towards them as they resurfaced. Sasuke took a deep breath again and Naruto dived once more. This wave was larger than the others, forcing them to stay under longer. Sasuke glanced over at the blonde while they were still underwater. He saw the boy's muscles ripple as he moved his tail up and down powerfully. Naruto started to swim to the top again. Sasuke's face broke free and he took another deep breath.

"Almost out," Naruto said without stopping.

Sasuke was glad about that. His arm was a little sore from yesterday's training and being a temporary rope didn't help one bit. He saw the swell start and took a deep breath. Naruto dived once more, and quickly came to the surface, but didn't stop. He pulled them farther out. After a couple minutes, he stopped and let go of Sasuke's hand and turned, smiling, towards him. The raven looked around. They weren't that far from land, but it still seemed a ways away. Everything else was nothing but sparkling, wide-open waters. He heard a splash and turned back to Naruto, or where he had been. Sasuke looked around. There was no sign of the smiling blonde. Taking yet another deep breath, he dived underwater and looked around. The murky water showed nothing. He remained under for a few more minutes.

Yellow appeared off to his right. When he looked at it, he realized it was actually Naruto's hair. The boy was moving fast. As he came closer, Sasuke could tell that he was actually swimming in intricate patterns. He took sharp turns, summersaults, twists at high speeds, on top of other, more complex moves. Sasuke watched entranced. He had seen others doing similar activities on land, but there was just something different about Naruto performing them. The blonde looked up and saw Sasuke. He grinned broadly and swam up to him. When he neared, he slowed and did a perfect circle around Sasuke, his tail brushing against him. Naruto straightened out, smiling, in front of Sasuke. The raven's heart was beating a little stronger than norm. It confused him, but that confusion vanished as he noticed a dark cloud gathering by the blonde's side. He motioned for Naruto to surface.

His lungs greeted the fresh air like there was no tomorrow. He looked over at the blonde. "Your gills are bleeding badly."

Naruto dived. Not even a minute later, his head appeared above water. "I didn't realize it was that bad."

"You dobe," Sasuke said with a glare. "Don't you have predators in the ocean?"

Naruto's head jerked to the side, his eyes somewhat wide. Before Sasuke could ask, the blonde ducked back underwater. Anger rose in Sasuke for the first time since being with Naruto. The blonde surfaced again.

"Where's the boat?"

Sasuke looked at him in confusion and listened. A faint hum was in the background. He looked around, but saw nothing.

"I don't know. Why?"

Naruto looked around. Panic was in his movements.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Sasuke demanded.

 

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This is officially the longest chapter i have ever posted in any of my stories

ok...i bet all of you are saying/thinking "How in teh HELL can this be a sasunaru when naruto is a freakin fish!!" and i assure u...there is a way...if any of you who've read this have read my other stories...you'd know quite well i LUV to throw in major twists that almost literally change the way the plot seemed to be going...by the 4th chappie of this story (round there) you'll find out how this can be a sasunaru...maybe the 5th chappie...i dunno lol

now...for our fellow flamers...you are warned...you WILL be humiliated in teh chapter after the one u flamed on...and there's this nice lil button on teh reviews now that just keeps begging me to push it...i wonder what it'd say if i did push it...instead of 'that was easy' i bet it'd say "ha suckers!" or something along those lines...maybe even "thank you come again"...but right now that button says "Abuse"...don't give me a reason to push that button : )


	2. Chapter 2

ok...fyi...forgot to put this on teh firt chappie...too lazy to go back and change it...but i won't be concentrating on making the transitions on sasuke and naruto falling for each other...in layman's terms...it will seem a lil sappy here or there...but i don't want to spend time trying to make them fall for each other...i wanna get on with the story dang it lol...so these first two chappies plus a couple chappies after this will be a lil "weak" on teh plot line...but hello...ya gotta start somewhere...so bear with me on that lol...if u want instant plot and a lot of fighting and many twists and some suspense...go read my story Frozen Chakra and Herbs ( i can't believe i have 21 chapters on that story as of right now)

now...is this where i say...HOLY FREAKIN CRAP!! i never expected one of my stories to have so many hits at once and 5 people already added it to their alert list (and that was in less than a day :jaw drops:)...memo to self: yaoi has more fans lmao...now i kno the hits on this chapter will only be like half of what the first chapter was...but thanks ya'll for sticking with this story so far lol

dis: watashi ga chimamire no kuroi shinobi desu. (hehe i had this as a dis for one of my other chapters...lets see if anyone can translate it lol)

 

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The blonde looked at him. "We can't be seen. I can't be seen."

"Why not?"

"Because of what I am, and if you're seen out here without a boat or anything, they'll think your like me too."

"Who's "they?""

"Fishermen, divers, any humans," Naruto explained.

And if those two find out I've been swimming in the ocean, they'll get suspicious. Kabuto'll want to get ahold of Naruto, Sasuke added to himself.

They both looked around. Naruto dived under again. On his third dive, he located the direction of the boat and where it was heading: right towards them. Naruto kept swimming back and forth near Sasuke. Sasuke on the other hand remained calm and kept scanning the general area that Naruto had said the boat was coming from. His eyes settled on a black speck that was moving fast.

"Sasuke, we need to get out of here," Naruto stated as he reappeared.

"Will your gills allow you to?"

Naruto's face-hardened. "I don't care, right now we need to get out of here."

Sasuke glared and moved over right next to the boy. He moved his hand fast and barely brushed against the wounded gills. Naruto flinched in pain.

"Dobe, you'll permanently disable yourself if you don't let your gills rest right now," Sasuke growled.

Naruto glared at him. "Then what do you propose we do, teme."

Sasuke's jaw clenched, but he kept in control. "Why don't we move out of the path of the boat?" he said with sarcasm.

Naruto's glare deepened, but he started swimming in a direction, slowly. Sasuke followed, watching the blonde's movements carefully. He noticed the boy's chest wasn't rising as deeply as it was earlier in the tide pool. The cut on his gills was really hindering him. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder. The boat was coming closer, faster, and from what he could tell, it looked like a fisherman's boat.

The hum of the old motor slowed. Naruto looked back.

"How long can you hold your breath?" he asked quietly.

Sasuke saw large orange markers falling out from behind the boat as the net was dropped into the water. "Almost 10 minutes."

"I don't understand minutes," Naruto growled, his accent thick.

"A lot longer than normal humans," Sasuke replied back.

"Good, we need to stay away from that net and keep from being spotted. We're going to be swimming underwater."

"Hn," was all Sasuke said.

Naruto dived near him. Sasuke took a deep breath and dived as well. The blonde was already swimming away from the approaching boat. Underwater, the hum of the motor was loud. Sasuke turned and swam after the boy. He saw a faint, dark trail coming from the mer-boy's side. It was a steady stream of blood. Sasuke felt his anger rise again. Anger at the boy's stupidity, and anger and himself for letting the blonde drag him out here. The noise from the engine got louder. Both looked over their shoulders and saw the boat coming closer. It was still a little ways away, but they both knew that from the size of the fishing net, the boat would go far just to get a good sized catch. Already, silver flashed in the net. Sasuke looked up at Naruto and saw the anger in his face. Sasuke pulled up next to Naruto and touched his shoulder. The blonde whipped around and glared at him. Sasuke glared back and motioned to continue forward, and swam ahead.

The boat's engine picked up in tone and Sasuke glanced back. The net was moving faster, but not towards him. He looked around for Naruto and saw the boy, but he wasn't swimming. Pain covered the blonde's face completely and his hands were grasping his side. Sasuke looked at the wounded gills and saw the thick red cloud surrounding them, causing him to think back to death. The engine whine kicked up another notch and the boat swerved towards them. Sasuke saw the edges of the net and swam out of line of the closest one. The net would pass him safely now, but not Naruto. Sasuke looked at the blonde and saw him start to sink, blood trailing behind him. He watched as the net got closer. Naruto was close to one of the edges, but his eyes were half closed and he wasn't even trying to move. His chest was rising shallowly and painfully. The raven's jaw clenched in irritation, and he swam towards Naruto. The boat sped up and the net started to be pulled out of the water, half full of fish. Sasuke watched as the bottom of it came closer to Naruto's level. He saw the blonde look at the net and try to move, but pain flashed across his face, paralyzing him again. The bottom of the net was rising up, but not far enough. The boat passed overhead and the bottom of the net caught Naruto. The boy struggled pathetically, but the netting only tangled in his gills, causing him to emit a sharp whistle of pain. He went limp, eyes sealed in pain. Sasuke stopped and watched as the net slowly rose up as the motor went into idle. Half of it was already out of the water now. Naruto's paralyzed body was only 5 feet from the surface. He opened his eyes and looked back at Sasuke. The raven saw the pain again. He clenched his jaw and swam up and grabbed Naruto's hand. Working quickly, but not gently, he got the net untangled from his good gills, and started working on the wounded ones. The net was only 3 feet from the surface now. Sasuke slowed his work so he wouldn't tear any part of the gills off. Faint chirps of pain pierced through the motor's hum as Sasuke pried the thick rope off the bleeding gills. Only 1 foot from the surface, the last rope came off and he pulled Naruto down to him. Letting the blonde's weight act as an anchor, Sasuke sank slowly down. He was carefully holding the boy in his arms. Blood started to cloud the water around him. The net cleared the surface. He looked up and saw 6 men looking over the edge into the water. Some had looks of shock on their faces. They had seen Naruto, and most likely him.

The burning in his lungs was starting to kill him. Sasuke glared up at the boat, but it was staying there as the men started to slowly go about the task of bringing the net completely in. He got a better hold on Naruto and swam around to the front of the boat. He figured that most of the crew would be in the back, tending to the net. He desperately needed air if he was to pull Naruto around now. As he neared the front, he moved to the right of it and watched through the water to see if anyone passed by. No one did. The boat wasn't moving either. It was just barely rocking back and forth with the water. Sasuke swam up and broke clear of the surface.

Even though he wanted to gulp down the air, he painfully controlled his breathing to remain quiet. Naruto's limp body tried to pull him back under. Sasuke kept kicking with his legs to keep his head above water.

"I swear captain, that it had a human body and a fish tail," a young man said.

"Just fisher wive's tales," a gruffer voice replied.

"I saw it too, sir, but I also saw red in the water around it. I think we hurt it," another voice joined in.

"Just get that net properly in and sort those fish! We need to get these fish back in time for that gathering," the gruff voice commanded.

Sasuke's breathing was calming down as his lungs blessed the air it received. He looked down at the blonde who was once again bleeding in his arms for the second time. Large blue eyes looked up through the water, pain and exhaustion showing dully in them.

"The net's in, sir," a new voice remarked.

Footsteps walked across the deck and a door opened. Sasuke took another deep breath and went back underwater. He let Naruto's weight once again pull him down. The propeller on the back started spinning and the hum got louder. They weren't sinking fast enough. Sasuke cursed in his head and let out half the air in his lungs. They started sinking faster as the boat pulled forward. The propeller missed them by 2 feet. Fire shot through his lungs as he watched the boat pick up speed. When he assumed it was far enough away, he swam back to the top and breathed in fresh air once more, but this time in gulps.

When his breathing settled again, he pulled Naruto farther up, placed one of his legs behind the boy's tail, and shifted so he was floating on his back and holding Naruto locked between his legs so he wouldn't sink. The blonde relaxed and leaned his head against Sasuke's stomach, closing his eyes against the sun.

"You owe me big, dobe," Sasuke growled angrily.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered.

Sasuke barely heard it from his head still being partially underwater. "Why didn't you swim out of the way of the net?"

"I couldn't. I had taken a deep breath and pain just shot through me. I think the slice on my gills has gotten too deep." There was a slight pause and Sasuke felt Naruto take a shuddering, slightly deeper breath. "It hurts to breath."

Sasuke remained floating there, balancing the blonde carefully so as to avoid his gills. The blue sky was starting to change as the sun neared the horizon. He figured there was about 3 hours of light left. What little of his skin, that was free of the water, cooled at the small breeze. The ocean water around him was nice and warm. He sighed.

"Can you swim at all?" he asked quietly.

The blonde's hair tickled his stomach and he felt the blonde's stomach muscles tense slightly as he started to lift his tail. He felt the blonde's body tighten and he threw his head back into Sasuke's stomach. The raven glanced down and saw Naruto clenching his teeth in pain. He felt Naruto's chest moving fast and shallowly. He sighed in anger. This was going to be a long swim.

Sasuke released his grip around Naruto and straightened, grabbing at Naruto's sides to keep him from sinking. He pulled the blonde up so his head was out of the water.

"Try and stay up as much as you can with your arms while I check your gills."

Naruto nodded.

Sasuke let go of the blonde and ducked underwater. It was cloudy with blood. Sasuke followed Naruto's side down to his gills. The good side seemed to have just a little blood coming from it out of irritation from the net. The wounded side was streaming blood. Sasuke looked closer at the cut. Naruto was right. Originally, the cut was only on his gills and he could still move them half way. Now, he barely opened them and the cut had gone into the rest of the skin around his gills. The two sides of the cut almost moved like separate gills.

Sasuke resurfaced. "If you hadn't have come out here, you would've been fine," he growled.

Naruto tried to glare, but closed his eyes tiredly instead. Sasuke sighed and moved back behind the blonde, gently wrapping his arms around his chest to keep him afloat. Naruto stopped moving his arms and just hung there.

"You really owe me big. I should just leave you for the sharks."

"You wouldn't dare," Naruto growled back.

"Maybe I would. What do you have to repay me with that I need or would have use of?" Sasuke retorted coldly.

Naruto's jaw clenched as he growled, "Teme."

Sasuke ignored him. He looked around. Land wasn't that far away, but with him swimming and dragging Naruto along, it was like walking to the moon. Sighing, he shifted back onto his back and gripped Naruto with his legs. He began to slowly back peddle with his arms. It was definitely going to be a long swim.

Sasuke stared up at the ceiling of his room from his bed. The room itself was bare and dull. Their lair was still underground like all the others, and it was 10 miles from the nearest village, but only 3 miles from the beach where Naruto was hidden.

Naruto. He couldn't figure out what it was about that boy. He just seemed to calm down, but also become really angry around him depending on what the boy did. Seeing the blonde content made him calm. The stupidity he showed, like what happened yesterday, made him boil with a rage he hadn't felt since he ran into Itachi 3 years ago, but the mere thought of hurting the blonde hurt him. It pissed him off that he couldn't even fathom purposely hurting the boy.

What the hell is wrong with me?!

Sasuke turned on his side with a huff, but regretted the movement a little bit. His shoulders were still sore from straining them two days in a row. If it weren't for Orochimaru having to do some kind of experiment again, he would've been straining his muscles even more today.

Sasuke got up and walked out into the hall. It reeked of chemicals. Sasuke turned his nose up in disgust as anger swelled again. This was another reason why he hated Kabuto, he always stunk up the place and it took 3 days just to clear most of the smell out. Walking quickly, he went to the entrance, one of many, and climbed out. As his head cleared the ground, the ocean breeze blew harshly against his face. The sky was cluttered with thick clouds. Sasuke breathed more deeply, clearing his lungs and nose of all the smell. His clothes were another story. He stood up straight on the surface and stretched his arms. The muscles groaned in agony, but felt better afterwards.

He looked in the direction of the town. He needed a few more supplies, but didn't feel like putting up with people staring at him. Also, his clothes weren't the best of smelling right now. Instead, he turned his feet towards the beach again.

Orochimaru watched Sasuke's back disappear slowly down the hill. For the past three days he had been going to the beach and returning wet and his mind distracted. He looked down the entrance.

Kabuto will be fine without me for a while, he thought as he followed Sasuke slowly.

 

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yea i was gonna make this chapter a LOT longer but where i found a good stopping point...was waaaaayyyyy toooooo long lol...so that's the next chapter lol

reviews motivate me to type on this...and they make me feel guilty bout not typing that much on it lol


	3. Chapter 3

grrr...i've forgotten yet another warning/fyi thingy...if naruto and sasuke seem a lil ooc...sorry...i'm used to writing with oc's and picking on kakashi or neji...first time writing with teh main characters bein naruto and sasuke lol

don't get used to updates on this bein a week apart...i've got both high school and college classes goin at once...it's cheaper lol...so i'm swamped with homework...if i get a lot typed up i'll try to post more often (like once every two weeks) but if i hit a writer's block...trust me they like to attack me -knock on wood- the updates will be spread out and sparse jus so i can have a lil buffer text between what i've posted and where i stopped typing lol

octi-chan was the only one who tried to translate the lil japanese sentence i had posted in teh previous chappie...and they got really really really close...jus translated one word wrong lol...congrats octi-chan -hands u double chocolate chocolate chunk cookie-

dis: i dno't own nrutao eevn tuhogh i wluod lkie to

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The breeze was strong on the beach. Sasuke ambled on, not thinking about anything. It took him 5 minutes to get from the lair to the beach using chakra. Now, he just meandered. Every now and then he'd glance out at the sea, but his eyes always looked ahead. The boulders started appearing again. Unbeknownst to him, his pace quickened.

Orochimaru noticed the change from far away. The trees were sparse along the beach, but they provided enough of a hiding space. He noticed Sasuke was still getting faster.

He recognized the large boulder from afar. Naruto's pool was on the other side. He didn't know when he had started calling it "Naruto's pool," but it was easier to say than "that large tide pool." He slowed as he neared the boulder. The beach along its calm shore was empty. He stepped out and scanned the water and its rocky boundaries. There was no sign of Naruto. He sighed.

At least it'll be quiet, he thought as he stretched out in the middle of the beach near the water. He placed an arm behind his head and closed his eyes.

Orochimaru stopped a distance away. He knew Sasuke would always have his guard up and he didn't want to be found out just yet. What confused him the most was that Sasuke seemed to be resting in one of the most uncomfortable places and by the water's edge. The snake knew the tide was starting to come in at this time of the day, that's why it confused him more.

They both remained like this for well over 20 minutes. The sennin standing and Sasuke half asleep on the beach with his sword lying in the gravel right beside him as well.

Sasuke took a deep breath. The ocean air was starting to get to him. It was nicer than how stuffy it had gotten back in Konoha. The lap of the ocean against the rocks was only background sound. Around him, the birds were quietly talking, the seagulls letting their presence be known every now and then, and a random splash.

Sasuke opened his eyes and sat up slowly. He watched the pool. Ripples were dancing across the surface. He felt a small smile tug at his mouth, but controlled it and remained impassive.

It appeared, closer and in shallow water: Naruto's golden head with his hair sticking to his face. He grinned at Sasuke, who only rolled his eyes. The blonde disappeared underwater again. He appeared a few seconds later in the water that only came up to Sasuke's knees. The blonde turned around and scooted backwards until he was in the shallowest part of water that would still provide his gills oxygen. He rolled onto his stomach and propped his head up with his hands.

"Hello, Sasuke."

"Dobe."

"Hey! I didn't do anything to deserve that yet!" his accented words yelled.

Sasuke rolled his eyes again.

What a loud mouth.

"Should you have been in the ocean with your wound?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk of 'I caught you red handed.'

Naruto glared at him. "You don't tell me what to do, Sasuke."

"And who's the one who saved your life twice?"

Naruto's glare deepened. "It's not my fault I was stuck on land."

"But you did cause the cut on your gills to get worse," Sasuke added with a triumphant smirk.

"Teme!"

Orochimaru stared at Naruto in complete shock. The blonde's tail was stretched out behind him. He itched to get his hands on the boy. He wanted to see the difference between the blonde's body and a human's body. Orochimaru looked at Sasuke, and smirked. At the blonde's arrival, he had relaxed greatly. He had relaxed so much that Orochimaru was able to sneak up to the tree line right behind Sasuke and overhear the little bicker match. His eyes wandered back to the boy who was having a staring contest with Sasuke. The snake couldn't see his future body's look, but assumed it wasn't one of his glares; otherwise the blonde would be back in the deeper water. He'd never seen Sasuke bicker over nothing with someone then not use a harsh glare on them.

"Damn it teme!"

Sasuke smirked. He had won this staring contest. Naruto let out a huff of anger and worked his way back to deeper water. Once he reached an area where he could swim, he dived back in. Sasuke watched him go, a small tug of loneliness pressured him to holler out at Naruto, but he kept quiet. The blonde's tail flipped against the surface and vanished. Sasuke stared at the area where the tail vanished.

After a few minutes, Naruto's head popped up near one of the rocks farther out. He dived back under and appeared back in shallow water. There, he turned around again and scooted back, but didn't stop where it was 6 inches deep. This time he scooted to the very edge and turned around onto his stomach and started digging amongst the pebbles, the bag he carried was off to his side. Sasuke watched, curious. His eyes started to trail across the soaked hair and down the shining, toned back to the boy's hips. He realized what he just did and blush erupted on his face. He calmly rubbed his eyes to hide it, but Naruto wasn't paying attention. The boy finally stopped digging and grabbed a larger rock that was somewhat smooth on one side. He turned to his bag and pulled out a large, flat rock and placed it in front of him. He then pulled out some seaweed and other sea plants the raven didn't recognize. Naruto laid out 2 strips of the seaweed on the large rock and laid a couple other plants on top of them. He took the pebble he had scavenged and started rubbing it, in strokes away from himself, against the plants.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto didn't look up from his work. "The juices from these plants help wounds heal, even in the ocean water."

Sasuke remained silent and watched the boy work. He was calmly running the rock over the plants. Sasuke could see some juices starting to collect at the top of the stroke. They stayed silent; Sasuke keeping his eyes on the plants only and Naruto concentrating on the amount of juices he collected. When he could get no more out of the ones on the rock, he exchanged them for others. After about 10 minutes, Naruto stopped and spread the juices out on the seaweed. Satisfied, he turned around so he was sitting up and placed the seaweed on his wounded gills. Sasuke saw him grit his teeth in pain as he did this.

He got up and walked over to the blonde. Naruto was washing the rock off in the little amount of water near him and he threw the used plants into the water. Sasuke knelt by the blonde and slowly peeled a small part of the seaweed away from the cut. Purple and red skin glared back at him. There was blood still running from the wound because of the continual irritation from salt. Some pus had gathered in the dire areas that were streaked with purple, almost black bruising. Sasuke gently placed the seaweed back in place and looked up. Naruto was watching him. Their eyes locked with each other. The staring contest ensued, but it was different from earlier. It didn't have anger flowing between them. Naruto broke off earlier too, and looked down, messing with the rocks around him. Sasuke sat down beside him with his knees drawn up to keep his feet out of the water. Silence passed between them. Neither of them looked at each other.

"Sasuke," Naruto began.

The raven looked at the blonde who kept looking down at the pebbles. Silence continued.

"What, dobe?"

He saw Naruto's jaw clench slightly, which made him smirked.

"Never mind," Naruto huffed, looking back out at the ocean.

Sasuke frowned. Something was really bothering his blonde. He stopped.

I didn't just think of Naruto as mine, did I? What the hell am I thinking?

Sasuke rubbed his face, trying to clear his head of those thoughts. "What were you going to ask, Naruto?"

The blonde frowned at Sasuke. He heard the slightly colder tone in the raven's voice. "Do you hate me?"

Sasuke froze and didn't look at Naruto.

The blonde continued, anger slowly creeping into his voice. "You always look down at me. I always seem to cause you problems, which just pisses you off more. And you always call me names. Do you hate me?"

Sasuke looked at sapphire eyes that were full of anger, but lurking beneath, fear and pain. He said the first word that came to his mind.

"Dobe."

Naruto's glare hardened and he looked away. Sasuke saw him hiding his pain. Even though the blonde tried, he just couldn't fully control those feelings of his. Sasuke berated himself. Of all the things, he just called him yet another name, which really hurt his blonde. Something inside Sasuke felt weird. He felt guilty.

"No, Naruto. I don't hate you. I never have."

Naruto looked back into his onyx eyes. Sasuke saw the guard the boy had up.

"Do you mean that?" the blonde asked quietly, accusingly almost.

Sasuke felt even guiltier. Why could this blonde make him feel this way after only 4 days of knowing him, and yet those he's known all his life back in Konoha couldn't.

"It's the truth."

Relief flooded the blue eyes. Naruto started to smile and looked down. Sasuke still saw the sadness in Naruto's look. The blonde closed his eyes and leaned his head against Sasuke's shoulder. At first, Sasuke tensed at such close contact, but he slowly got used to it and relaxed. The breeze that had been continually blowing blew some of Naruto's hair into Sasuke's face, tickling his cheek.

Orochimaru stared. The scene before him literally knocked his socks off. _The_ Uchiha Sasuke, the boy who glared at him since day one, the one who would nearly kill anyone who touched him without permission, sat there and let a boy, of all genders, lean against him and he relaxed at his touch. He let the boy get to him emotionally, which he just witnessed for the first time since he had started training the boy. This exotic boy with the unusual hair color and deep blue eyes was Sasuke's one weakness. After all the times of testing and searching, here it was. And Orochimaru was about to use it to his advantage. The snake smiled and slowly slipped away. He knew of a few fishermen in town that were being humiliated for their claims of seeing two mermen yesterday. Orochimaru had a very good idea who those two mermen were.

Sasuke trained alone in one of the many training rooms, but his mind wasn't fully concentrating on the task. He was thinking about that afternoon. Naruto had fallen asleep there beside him for a little bit, but woke up to crawl into the water. It was then Sasuke found out that the blonde could only last so long out of the water.

He thought of the many feelings that had bugged him while he was with Naruto. He remembered many of the thoughts and emotions he experienced around him. The one that kept popping into his head the most was "my Naruto." It bothered him that he was getting strange feelings over another boy.

Sasuke punched the wood log too hard and split it in half, obtaining a few splinters in his knuckles. He picked most of the slivers out and continued his training. His thoughts continued to wander. One image popped into his head, forcing his face to go red with blush. It was the image of Naruto's body, still damp in the sunlight, as he worked on making the poultice. He punched a cinder block hard and broke it in half.

"Don't go too hard on your hands."

Sasuke swung around and glared.

Kabuto smirked back. "We heard an interesting tale today in town. Some fishermen, who happen to be respected amongst the others, claim to have seen a merman. Since you've been spending your time at the beach a lot, I was wondering if you saw this merman by any chance."

Sasuke glared and walked past him, out into the hall.

"Tell me if you do. I'd like to examine his body, just out of curiosity," Kabuto told his retreating back.

Sasuke rounded the corner. Orochimaru stepped out of a nearby room and smiled at Kabuto.

"You're right, Orochimaru-sama, he gave me one of the worst glares yet when I mentionned the merman."

"More like mer-boy," the snake replied.

Kabuto smirked in disgust. "I'll never understand him."

Sasuke paced his room. The words Kabuto said rang in his ears. Anger filled his whole entire body. Just the mere thought of Kabuto near Naruto pissed him off. Sasuke slipped out of his room and quickly left the lair. He had finally decided to go check on the blonde.

He used chakra to increase his speed and ran towards the pool. He made it there in 6 minutes. Jumping onto the nearest boulder, he hopped to the ones closer to the ocean. The ¾ moon illuminated things just enough for him to see, but not enough to look into the water. He jumped back to the beach and grabbed a handful of pebbles and jumped back out to the same rock. He tossed a pebble into the water and waited. Nothing. He did it again, but tossed two out. Still nothing. Irritated, he chucked a few farther away. A faint shimmer came from beneath the surface and Naruto popped up near the base of the rock he was on.

"Teme, it's dangerous for you to be on that rock at night!" he growled.

"We were spotted."

Naruto's face fell into fear. "Who?"

"The fishermen of that boat. I overheard them yesterday, as they were bringing in the net, and arguing about seeing you. Kabuto even said something about you."

"Who's Kabuto?"

"A pain in the ass I'm forced to tolerate."

Naruto looked down. "Did you hear anything else?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

Naruto punched the rock. Sasuke was a little surprised to see a few pieces fall off into the water. Especially since the blonde didn't show any sign of chakra asides from the faint signature that said he was alive.

"I'll stay hidden more and only come out when there aren't that many people out in boats," Naruto said angrily.

"Tell me if anyone comes snooping around," Sasuke said.

Naruto looked up at him and smiled. "Ok."

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ewww sappy chapter...gross lol...i prefer violence and action (like fighting..get ur heads out of the gutter)...yet this story idea had to be filled with sappy luv stuff -sighs- o well...at least i can type on another story lol


	4. Chapter 4

i noticed this hasn't been updated in a while...my bad...school is time consuming...sadly lol...and i would've updated this last weekend...but i went to my first ever anime convention!! XD it freakin ROCKED!! yup yup...and i blew 2 paychecks there...and i got deathnote playin cards...a black neko cat ears hat that have red tufts of fur comin out of the ears...and a replica of kakashi's mask (although i've already misplaced that TT-TT) and i got a yaoi paddle (couldn't resist...would've got a seme/uke paddle too...but that would've cost a total of 76!!) and and and...i got an akatsuki robe!! XD...i'm not a fan of itachi or any akatsuki member...but still...yay!! lol...and there were a LOT of cosplayers...i didn't have anything so i couldn't cosplay...but but but...i wanna cosplay next year and with the akatsuki robe...i might go as itachi...that is if naruto is still around and on-going by then lol...but all the cosplays i saw were really good...and there were even a few lolita...and the reason i'm goin on bout this is cuz in my area of residence...we don't have a lot of people and we're mostly farmers and country bumpkins...not too many kno bout anime and manga...so me and one of my best friends who went along with us...we were in heaven at that convention...it was so cool!! lol

ok...i'm done ranting lol...kishimoto!! hurry up with chapter 389 of naruto!! -shakes fist angrily-

oooo u've sooo got to watch the anime darker than black...it's created by the same genius of wolf's rain...there's only 25 episodes in teh anime...and u can only find english subtitles...but it's really worth it to watch...if interested...pm me or say it in a review and i'll tell ya where to find it : )...if u wanna kno what it's about...look it up on wikipedia...jus don't read too much cuz it might give a few things away from teh story lol

dis: me don't own...the drawings in teh manga would really suck if i did...so be glad lmao

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The month passed quicker than either of them liked. Orochimaru had more experiments come up so Sasuke had more time off. He spent them with Naruto. The blonde stayed in the pool until evening. That's when he'd leave, returning at dawn. Slowly, the boy's gills healed. They still didn't want to open together as one set of gills, but at least he could breathe normally near the end of the month. He took Sasuke back out to the open ocean a few times again, this time, without any boats to worry about, or acquiring more damage to his gills. The times they didn't go to the ocean, they spent together on the beach or in the shallow water. Sasuke slowly started to enjoy Naruto's company, even though he tended to be a little loud and stupid. At those times, he had to completely ignore the boy so he wouldn't physically hurt him just to get him to straighten up. Naruto made it a secret goal to get Sasuke to actually smile and not smirk. So far, no luck. The only emotions the arrogant boy showed were anger, the mischievously evil smirk, or nothing at all with the latter being the most common. It really got on the blonde's nerves at times. When that happened, Naruto would pull the corners of Sasuke's mouth up in a smile. Sasuke would turn around and give him a 3 second count to let go. If he didn't let go, he punched the blonde, hard. This would happen at least every other day, so Naruto always had some kind of bruise somewhere.

They never asked each other about their past. Both didn't want to talk about it, so, they just lived in the present. At times they felt the large gap between their two kinds. That would happen when Naruto was on the beach and couldn't go far, or Sasuke couldn't keep up with Naruto's speed in the water. Other times, it was just an awkward moment. They felt that their friendship was probably going farther than normal at times, but they would never admit it, until the area of the pool that was hard for Naruto to swim in and Sasuke to walk in finally got the better of them two days earlier. It was in the area where the water level reached Sasuke's hips.

He had been slowly walking back to the shore and Naruto went by him, swimming backwards. His tail was towards the floor and they didn't realize how close they really were until Naruto accidentally tripped Sasuke. He caught himself, but not before their lips met. They broke apart immediately, blushing brightly and stumbling over their apologies. Sasuke left soon after and didn't show up the next day.

Naruto sat waiting in the shade the day after. His head was the only partially above the water. Sasuke had mentioned his irritation when Naruto would lean against him with wet hair and soak his shirt. Ever since then, he tried to keep his head above water more.

"Waiting for someone?"

Naruto turned around fast and glared up at the figure on the rock above him. Sasuke crouched there, only in swimming trunks. His once pale body was starting to get a slight tan from all the time in the sun with Naruto.

"Damn it, teme! Quit doing that!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke scowled. "Quit shouting, dobe."

Naruto pouted angrily. "Well, it's your damn fault for scaring me."

The blonde pulled himself up onto the rock by Sasuke. The raven sat down next to him and glanced at the blonde's body for the millionth time. The wounds from a month ago had left scars behind, but it didn't ruin the muscled figure that bore them. They just added to his good looks, in Sasuke's opinion.

Naruto was looking out at the ocean, oblivious to Sasuke's look. The blonde sighed. "It's so boring since I can't go out during the day."

Sasuke looked at him in confusion.

Naruto looked innocently back. "There's not many creatures active at night and the dolphins tend go farther away from land at night too."

Sasuke felt the guilt come back again. He felt that he was holding Naruto back from his normal life. It was on one of their trips into the ocean that Sasuke learned of Naruto's natural tongue. The blonde started whistling and chirping at the dolphins and they replied. He was later informed that the mer-language was close to that of dolphins so they could easily communicate with each other.

"Earth to Sasuke," Naruto said waving his hand in front of the boy.

Sasuke glared at him. "What?"

"You zoned out again. What were you thinking about this time?"

"Nothing."

Naruto sighed in exasperation. "Not that again."

Sasuke smirked.

Naruto saw the smirk and rolled his eyes, sliding back into the water. Sasuke stood up and dived in. When he surfaced, he saw Naruto glaring at him while trying to hold back a smile.

"You dived in like that just to rub it in my face."

Sasuke smirked. Naruto had taught Sasuke many tricks about swimming and Sasuke had perfected his dive, which made Naruto jealous since he couldn't dive at all.

"Maybe," the raven said.

Naruto huffed, then smirked. Sasuke got a bad feeling about that look. Naruto swam around Sasuke, keeping his eyes locked with the raven's, and making sure the nin's back faced the rocks. He circled Sasuke again, turning so close as to purposefully make his tail brushed up against him. The raven's heart started beating faster at the blonde's touch, but he remained impassive on the surface. Naruto kept circling until Sasuke felt his back hit the rocks. He stared at the blonde who was really close to him now.

"Ha, cornered ya," the boy said, grinning.

Naruto's face wasn't that far from his. Sasuke remembered their accidental kiss and his heart beat faster. He glanced around, but saw that he really was cornered. He looked back at Naruto who was still grinning triumphantly. Sasuke was treading water to stay afloat and he kept feeling Naruto's tail brush against his legs. It didn't help his control anymore. With the blonde being close enough he could actually smell his distinct scent, Sasuke remembered all that he wanted to do every since the other day. He finally gave in, leaned forward, and kissed Naruto.

The blonde didn't respond right off, but soon relaxed and kissed back. Sasuke begged for entrance with his tongue. Naruto obliged, moving closer to him, pinning him against the rock. Sasuke tasted every void of the blonde's mouth. Naruto's tongue followed his. The raven pulled back and Naruto's tongue followed and searched his mouth. The raven nearly groaned when Naruto started to kiss harder with one of his hands wandering farther down Sasuke's side. The fight continued for dominancy. Sasuke's hands wandered hungrily down Naruto's back. The blonde responded by kissing even harder. Sasuke enjoyed every minute of it, but pulled back, gasping. They stared at each other, both slightly breathless and blushing. It was then that Sasuke realized that Naruto had completely pinned him against the rock. The blonde was pressing hard up against him to keep him from slipping, since he was no longer treading water. He felt Naruto's stomach muscles slowly contracting as he moved his tail gently back and forth to stay above water. He smirked and kissed the blonde's neck gently.

Orochimaru jumped down from the tree and looked across the beach. He found the two against one of the farthest rocks, locked with each other.

About time this happened. Now I can finally put my plan into action, he thought to himself.

The snake smirked and jumped off towards the nearby town.

The evening sun found them both lying in the water's edge on the beach. Sasuke was stretched out in the warm water. Naruto was curled up against him, lying on his chest with one set of gills still in the water, fast asleep. Sasuke looked down at the golden hair. His pale hand resting on the other boy's back contrasted sharply. Naruto's hand clenched into a fist, scraping Sasuke's side as it did so. He felt the blonde's body tighten. A faint chirp came from the boy. Sasuke moved his hand to the blonde's hair and slowly started running his fingers through the soft tresses. Naruto flinched unconsciously at the sudden touch.

"Naruto, cool it," he mumbled.

The blonde didn't relax. Sasuke sighed and continued running his hand through the boy's hair, eventually relaxing him. Sasuke untangled his hand from the boy's hair and started trailing it gently down the muscled back. The blonde shifted at the faint touch and looked up, bleary eyed, at Sasuke. He calmly looked back down, no emotion showing. Naruto pulled himself farther up Sasuke's chest and laid his head down in the crook of the other's neck. Sasuke remained perfectly still, muscles slightly tense. It was instinct that caused him to tighten at the feel of anything near his jugular, but this was Naruto, so he calmed down, slowly. The blonde wrapped an arm around Sasuke's chest and sighed contentedly. Sasuke looked over at the lowering sun. The bottom part was already touching the horizon. Dread filled him. He didn't want to leave Naruto and go back just yet. He always had to be on guard there, yet here with Naruto, he could relax a little bit. He sighed and wrapped both arms around the blonde.

"I have to leave," he stated quietly.

Naruto looked up at him. "Why?"

He looked down into sapphire eyes. "They'll begin to wonder where I'm at if I'm gone too long. I don't want them finding out about you. Kabuto wouldn't leave you alone or unharmed."

Naruto curled back into Sasuke's side. "I don't want to be alone again," he mumbled.

A pang shot through the raven. He hated to see Naruto hurt in any way, but he would rather him be alone, than suffering in the hands of Kabuto or Orochimaru.

He sat up and cupped Naruto's face gently in his hands. "I'll try to come back tomorrow."

Naruto glared at him. "What do you mean "try," teme."

Sasuke sighed in irritation. "I don't know exactly what we're doing tomorrow, dobe. The whole entire time we've been at this lair, things haven't been planned as well as they usually are."

Naruto childishly pouted. Sasuke smirked then leaned in and kissed him. Naruto's mouth opened and they shared another passionate kiss. One of many they've had throughout the day.

Sasuke pulled back for the last time, gasping, and looked at the sun. It was halfway gone. He looked back down at Naruto who was lying underneath him. His sapphire eyes begged for more. Sasuke leaned down and trailed gentle kisses along the boy's neck, collarbone, and down to his well-muscled stomach. His hands trailed down the rough yet smooth tail. Naruto twisted under his touches and he pulled Sasuke's face back to his, kissing him hungrily.

The next time Sasuke looked up, gasping, the sun was practically gone. He looked once more at Naruto. The dying rays set the boy's hair on fire, but he was frowning up at the sky. Sasuke followed his look and saw the full moon already showing in the sky. He looked down at the blonde, who was looking back at him, doubt in his eyes. Sasuke scowled.

"What?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head and smiled brightly. "Nothing."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching. Naruto sighed and pushed himself back into deeper water. Sasuke looked back at his blonde. Naruto smiled again, but Sasuke saw another emotion that was hidden behind it. It was fear. He continued looking at Naruto, but shook his head and headed towards the trees. He really needed to get back.

"Sasuke?"

Naruto's voice stopped him near the tree line. He looked back at the blonde who was no longer smiling.

"On the second night of the full moon, save me from the water."

Naruto didn't wait for a reply. He flipped around and dived underwater. Sasuke stared at the pool, waiting for the blonde to poke back up, but he never did. He rolled those words around in his head.

Why would he need saved from the water?

Orochimaru walked past Sasuke's room quietly. He could feel the boy's chakra signature back in the room. He smirked and headed towards the entrance.

I hope you enjoyed you time with him, Sasuke-kun, because it won't happen any more.

* * *

-pukes- this chapter was waaaay too mushy thank u very much...i prefer blood and guts...so if u think i should've gone into more detail on the 'kiss' part...i sux at writing those...so jus use ur imagination and picture them makin out if u sooo desperate for a make out...although i don't want no sueing for nearly fatal blood loss due to ur imagination lmao...but i'll jus write the parts...in not too much detail..and continue with the story...if i try to write the mushy parts in detail...they sound horrible...so i don't even try lmao...soooo any comments?? reviews?? both gladly accepted...except flames...those will jus be used to heat my house on this cold winter day lol


	5. Chapter 5

ok...been a while since i updated lol...but i've had tests...and lots of them -sighs- lol...but but but...i saw two robins (a type of bird) this morning and i've heard a lot of spring song birds too...soooo spring is just around the corner XD i luv winter and all...but we've had an UNUSUAL amount of snow and i'm tired of it cuz the past few times the snow has been really moist so it was literally slush on the roads before anyone drove on it...but in my area..when u see a robin u kno spring is in a few weeks...and when u hear and see the red-winged blackbirds...then spring is definitely here lol

dis: watashi wa naruto wo shyuu suru shinai

* * *

His eyes opened to darkness. Rubbing them wearily, Sasuke picked up the clock on the little table. 5:53 am. It was close to the normal time that he woke up. He rolled back over and went over his plans for the day. Above everything else, he was short on some supplies and needed to go to the village. Sitting up and stretching a few muscles, Sasuke dressed and meandered down to the kitchen. A quick bite later found him walking in the morning air towards Naruto's pool. He was in no hurry, so he took his time.

Ten minutes later, he was standing at the edge of the water. The sun's light was starting to turn the sky and its clouds into many shades of vibrant, angry reds. He looked across the water. It was still dark because the boulders blocked most of the thin light from the dawn. No breeze rippled the top. It barely had any movement near the gap, but that never spread farther than that area. He felt a little bad at disturbing the tranquility, but he wanted to know if Naruto was back. Picking up three rocks, he hurled two at once towards a certain boulder, waited four seconds then threw the last one at the same spot. It was the little signal both of them devised to be able to catch Naruto's attention while he was underwater.

Nothing happened. The ripples lengthened, churned the water, then disappeared. The pool never returned to its calm state. Sasuke tried once more, but there was still no reply. Sighing, he turned towards the village. Most of the shops didn't open so early in the morning, so he decided to just walk there as well. It was an even 12 miles to get to the village from Naruto's pool, but the morning was fair.

A knock came from his door. "Sasuke-kun, we're going to the village, and you're coming too," Orochimaru's voice stated.

Sasuke glared at the door and glared over at the clock. It read 2:07 pm. Grabbing his sword angrily, he started to walk out of his room and join the other two at the foot of one of the entrances, but stopped, back tracked and grabbed at a small cord like item. Stuffing it into his pocket, he walked out and met up with the others. Sasuke glared at them. Orochimaru was smiling like usual. He turned and walked up the entrance. Kabuto followed. Sasuke waited a few seconds then followed as well. When all three were on the top, Orochimaru took off towards the village.

Shouts rang out from the markets. People glanced at them, but continued about their business. Like usual, many of the younger girls kept glancing at Sasuke, some whispering to others behind their hands. The raven ignored them. Orochimaru led them to the center of the village, near the docks. There were still some fish from the morning catch. Kabuto wandered off to pick out the ones for his experiments. Orochimaru wandered off as well. Sasuke was left alone. He coldly watched everything going on about him.

"Is the tank filled yet?" a young boy asked an older girl near him.

"I think it is, but I don't want to know what those men have caught. They claim that what they did catch will prove them right," the girl said with a slight sneer.

"The tank's filled!" another young boy shouted, running up from the docks. "They're gonna put it in!"

The villagers in the market started milling towards the docks. Sasuke, out of boredom, wandered down with them. Everyone was gathering around a square, cement tank that was only 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Some fishermen were pulling large hoses out from it. The hoses were attatched to motors that were in the ocean that had pumped water into the large container. One wall, facing the crowd, was made of thick glass, which revealed the murky seawater inside. The top was open. Four men with spears lined up on each corner of the box. Four more men walked up the large, wooden ramp that led to the top. In between them was a bulky, rolled tarp that was holding something large and heavy. They hauled it to the tank, lifted it onto the edge, and pulled at one end of the tarp, unraveling and throwing the object into the water.

Sasuke's heart nearly stopped at the familiar gold and blue flash. Naruto fell into the tank and sank to the bottom. The crowd went deathly silent.

"You didn't believe us a month ago," one of the men at the top of the tank shouted. "We've brought you our proof."

"You killed it!" a woman shouted.

"Oh no, he's alive alright."

One of the spearmen threw their spear into the water, right at Naruto. The blonde dodged it. The other three threw theirs as well, causing him to dodge them, but end up close to the glass. His back hit the wall and he turned around. Frightened blue eyes looked out at the crowd. He shook his head and tried to get back against the far wall where the murky water would hide him better, but the spearmen had pulled their spears back up with the ropes attatched at the ends. They threw them back down into the water. Naruto broke the ends off two, but was still forced back to the glass. He whirled around and slammed his fist into the glass. It reverberated loudly across the silent crowd. He punched it again. The reverberation was joined by a small cracking sound. The other two spearmen forced him away from the glass. Naruto broke the end off of one of the spears with his tail as he went towards the back of the tank.

Sasuke's fists were clenched to the point blood was running freely from his palms. He saw Naruto's panic, pain, and anger, and wanted to get him out of there, but to do so would require him reveal himself and rumors would reach Konoha. They would come looking for him again. He was forced to watch as Naruto stayed in one of the corners. Slowly, he sank to the bottom and curled up with his back towards everyone. No longer able to take it any longer, and to prevent the massacring of the villagers for harming the blonde, Sasuke turned his back to the tank, and walked away.

He took deep breaths as he walked, trying to get back in complete control. He looked up with his impassive mask back on and saw Kabuto and Orochimaru. Both were looking at Naruto, but they noticed him coming and looked at him. Sasuke reached them and stopped, looking back at the tank.

"I wish I could catch me one of those to examine," Kabuto mumbled. "Have you ever seen such a thing?" He looked directly at Sasuke.

Sasuke closed his eyes and started walking back to town. "Just more trash in the world," he replied coldly.

The other two looked at each other, but followed.

Naruto shivered on the floor of the tank. The water had cooled as the sun started setting. He looked up and saw the four humans still up there at each corner, as well as the extra three that were posted ever since he nearly broke the glass wall. They now had spears that had more than one prong on the end. They were also a lot harder to break since metal reinforced half the rod. He swam to the glass slowly, keeping a partial eye on the humans above him. They noticed his movement and had aimed their spears towards him. Naruto continued slowly and laid down near the glass. He looked up at the darkening sky. The bottom half of the sun was already gone. He looked directly up and saw the full moon peaking out from behind one of the cement walls.

Sasuke won't come. I've been caught. He wouldn't do anything to help me if it meant he had to reveal himself as a ninja, Naruto thought sadly. I'll just stay at the bottom here and die when the sun goes down.

Sasuke had been watching the docks from the shadows for some time now. His attention was now drawn to the blonde right by the glass. He had seen Naruto's look of defeat directed towards the sun. He saw the blonde curl up, shivering. Even though he wanted to just charge down there and kill all who were keeping his blonde in the tank, he remained still. He didn't want to bring Konoha back on his heels again.

One of the guards by the tank looked towards his buddy and said something. Sasuke activated his sharingan and read their lips.

"The replacements should be here in five minutes."

"Good. I'm tired of standing here."

Sasuke smirked. The success of his plan was just handed to him on a silver platter. He slipped down and moved silently amongst the crates that reeked of fish. A tarp was lying on the ground at the base of one crate. It looked to be about the right size to wrap completely around Naruto. He grabbed it and looked out at all the men that were wandering around by the docks. There weren't that many, since most were at dinner. He watched, trying to get their pattern down. It was easy. Sasuke slipped over next to the cement tank and hid underneath the wooden walk way near the beginning of the ramp, in the shadows. He didn't have to wait long. Seven men broke away from the normal routine and walked towards the tank. Sasuke pulled farther back into the shadows. When they got near him, he caught their attention. They all looked at him. He calmly looked back and beckoned them closer. Confused they came closer. Sasuke smirked and disappeared before their eyes. He hit them all, knocking them unconscious. No sound escaped as they fell. Sasuke quickly pulled them into the shadows and made seven other clones. He transformed them into the seven different men and walked out and onto the plank. The real Sasuke stayed hidden in the shadows at the base of the tank. The wooden walkway zig-zagged back and forth as it went higher. The clones reached the top.

"'Bout time," one of the other guards grumbled.

They passed their spears off to the others and wearily trudged down. Sasuke watched as all the seven guards walked off towards town. He waited a few minutes then grabbed the canvas tarp and hopped up the walkway quickly. The sun was halfway gone, but still illuminated the cloudy water. Sasuke dipped his fingertips into the water. It was cooling off fast. He saw Naruto on the bottom, curled up tightly in what little of the sun's light that was able to pierce through the glass and water. Sasuke pulled out three pebbles. He dropped two into the water, waited four seconds, then dropped the third.

Naruto heard the familiar pattern of the plops and looked up as the pebbles hit the bottom. Sasuke stared back down. Naruto smiled and swam to the top. Sasuke held a finger to his lips as Naruto broke the surface. The blonde looked at the guards.

"They're my clones," Sasuke mumbled as he opened up the canvas tarp.

"You really came," Naruto whispered.

Sasuke ignored the comment and pulled Naruto out of the water, placing him gently on the tarp, and rolling the boy up in it. He picked up the blonde and hopped down each level of the walkway. When his feet hit the sand, Sasuke went under the ramp again and looked around. No one was looking towards the tank. He felt a shiver run through the bundle in his arms. He placed Naruto on the sand and freed the boy's arms.

"I need to carry you on my back. It'll be easier for the both of us. Wrap your arms around my neck and hang on tight."

He turned around and Naruto did as Sasuke said. The raven grabbed Naruto's tail and pulled it to his side so he had a good grip on the canvas and held some of Naruto's weight. He checked the area again. When he was sure no one was looking, Sasuke focused chakra in his feet and slipped quickly through town.

The thin tree coverage wasn't much. Sasuke had climbed a tree with Naruto still on his back and was now hopping from branch to branch back to the pool. Even though he knew it wasn't safe there, there really wasn't any other place for Naruto to hide safely in for a while. The familiar boulders appeared ahead. Sasuke jumped down and walked to the water line and started to walk into the water.

"Sasuke don't," Naruto said from his back.

Sasuke stopped and looked over his shoulder at sapphire eyes.

"Do you remember what I told you yesterday?"

Sasuke nodded.

"If you put me in the water, I'll only drown in a few minutes."

Sasuke's face creased in confusion. Naruto looked over at the sun. Sasuke followed his eyes. There was only a little sliver left of the burning ball.

"Just lay me down right here, please," Naruto whispered.

Sasuke did as was asked, and crouched down next to the blonde. Naruto was shivering slightly.

"Care to explain?" Sasuke said coldly.

Naruto flinched. "Please don't talk like that. Everything will be clear in a few minutes." 

* * *

yea u can probably guess what's goin to happen...but who gives...it's a slight cliffie and i figured this was a good place to stop lmao...but reviews still accepted..and luvd...and wished for...and j/k lol


	6. Chapter 6

o.m.g...y the hell did they have to change the settings on documents to no longer accept dashes and all that for line breaks?! i have to go back and edit over 30 chapters now!! -dies-...but all of you have suffered what those who read my too long of a story suffer...a month wait for an update lmao...this month went by toooo fast and i had tests every week then the week long vacation in south dakota with the foreign exchange group...yea it was a busy month lol

the mushy scene in this chapter...i just typed it up and called it good...if it sucks it sucks...i don't care lmao

dis: watashi wa naruto wo shyuu suru shinai

* * *

The blonde looked back at the sun

The blonde looked back at the sun. Sasuke watched it too. The very edge slowly disappeared. When it was completely gone, Naruto looked up at the moon that was becoming brighter with each second.

"Sasuke, whatever happens, don't touch me until I say so. I don't want to accidentally hurt you."

Sasuke glared at the blonde. He was making no sense at all. Whatever the dobe was waiting for better happen soon because his clones had just disappeared and he was sure they'd notice the lack of guards and mer-boy soon.

The sky kept getting darker. When it was finally twilight. Naruto looked down. Sasuke looked at him. The blonde flinched and huddled over, holding his sides. His body gave a lurch and Naruto fell on his side, curled up in the canvas. Sasuke backed up so the blonde wouldn't hit him. He watched as Naruto's back arched in pain. He thrashed his tail back and forth. Blue fin gleamed in the twilight. Naruto screamed in pain. The scream turned into a sharp whistle. The boy lurched again, face creased in pain, sharp teeth fully revealed to the sky. Sasuke stared, anger raging in him doubled with the feeling of helplessness. He watched Naruto's chest heave in pain. He watched as the blonde curled and uncurled, thrashing about, not once opening his eyes.

Naruto started coughing; blood splattering everywhere. He rolled onto his back, arched in pain. He started scratching at his sides fervently, right where his gills were located. Sasuke watched as blood started seeping from the boy's sides. All he could do was watch. Naruto had specifically said not to touch him because he didn't want to hurt him. His mind kept jumping back to when Naruto punched the glass twice and nearly broke it.

Naruto let out a loud scream. His body gave another jolt then he stopped, his back to Sasuke. His chest was rising and falling rapidly.

Wait. Sasuke stared. His chest is moving as if he's breathing; yet he's not in water.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke walked slowly over. Naruto didn't make any move towards him. The raven stopped by Naruto side and crouched down. The dying rays of the disappearing sun barely tipped Naruto's hair. Sasuke looked at the boy's face. A small trickle of blood was by the boy's mouth.

He reached down and gently touched Naruto's bare shoulder. "Dobe?"

Sapphire eyes slowly opened and looked at Sasuke. A small smile tugged at Naruto's lips.

"Ow," he croaked out.

Sasuke glared. "Now will you explain why you just had an apparently painful spasmodic attack since you seem to have enough strength joke around?"

Naruto huffed out a couple laughs. He started to push himself up. Sasuke helped him sit up. Naruto looked up at Sasuke then down at his tail. Sasuke followed his look and froze. Instead of silver and blue, tan pigment shown back. Sasuke reached down and slowly pulled away a bit of the tarp that was hiding Naruto's lower body. Two human legs were where a tail had once been. He looked back at Naruto's face. Naruto stared at the shock plainly written there. He never saw Sasuke this shocked before.

"How?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "You humans have a saying: curiosity kills the cat. This is my punishment for my curiosity. Every time on the second night of a full moon, this happens."

Sasuke looked at Naruto's sides. There were no gills. A scar trailed down Naruto's left side.

"That's why I asked you not to put me in the water. It hurts so much that I can't move except for where the spasms force me to move. I've nearly drowned over five times."

Sasuke stared back at Naruto's face. The blonde looked away.

"Naruto, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

The blonde still didn't look at him. "All the other times I've trusted someone with this secret, I nearly died. It's one of the reasons why I'm all alone now."

Sasuke heard the pain in the boy's voice. The pain of so many unshed tears. It hit too close to home for Sasuke. He'd been in the same boat of betrayal. Sasuke leaned forward and gently wrapped his arms around Naruto. The blonde froze, the tears nearly choking him. He leaned against Sasuke, trying to keep them in control. After nearly a year of being alone, here was someone who actually didn't care about his curse.

Sasuke felt Naruto trembling against him. He glanced at him and saw silent tears falling slowly down, the moonlight catching them with its light. Sasuke tightened his grip around Naruto and pulled him close. Naruto curled up even tighter against him, nearly sitting in his lap. Sasuke knew Naruto needed the quiet, so he just sat there, comforting the boy the best his cold heart could. It had been such a long time since he himself had been in trusting arms, so he didn't really know what to do to begin with.

"Sasuke?"

He looked down at Naruto who was leaning against his chest.

"Thank you, for not hating me."

"Dobe, I don't see any reason why I should hate you over something like this."

Naruto looked up and saw calm, black voids looking back at him. Sasuke looked down at the deep sapphire eyes, illuminated by the full moon. Tears still slipped down his scarred face. He leaned in and gently kissed one away. Naruto moved his mouth and met Sasuke's, tenderly asking for entrance. He felt Sasuke smirk as he opened his mouth and allowed the blonde entrance. At first, Naruto was cautious, afraid that Sasuke would still turn around and hate him.

Sasuke figured the blonde was still worried, so he turned around and pushed his tongue into Naruto's mouth. He kissed him harder and harder. His lips trailed down the blonde's neck. Naruto gasped and melted in Sasuke's arms. The raven placed Naruto back on the tarp and shifted on top of him, still kissing the blonde's neck. He smirked again as he felt his hips slide between Naruto's legs. The trailing kisses finally reached the blonde's stomach. Naruto moaned, his legs wrapping around Sasuke's, whose smirk grew as he started tenderly kissing the boy's lower stomach.

Sasuke went back up to Naruto's face and started ravaging his mouth. Naruto replied with force. His hands trailing down Sasuke's back, removing his shirt.

Shivers went down his spine as Naruto's hands traveled farther down his back.

Sasuke's own hands found the bare skin of Naruto's hips and he pulled the blonde against him and started sucking at the his neck. Moans turned to gasps as Sasuke continued.

The rope around Sasuke's clothing loosened, slowly falling off. Naruto had managed to untie the knot that had held them in place.

Their lungs screaming for air finally drove them apart, but it didn't last for long. Sasuke was once again trailing kisses down the blonde's stomach. Gasps came from Naruto, begging for more.

A light passed overhead. Both stopped, panting heavily. The light passed over once more. Sasuke leaned up a little and saw a boat going slowly over the water, it's spotlight scanning the area around it. He quickly leaned on Naruto, using the tarp to hide them both.

"They've figured out you're gone," he mumbled breathlessly.

Naruto's hands tightened around Sasuke's loose shirt. The raven looked down and saw fear filling the sapphire eyes.

"Don't let them find me, please."

Sasuke hated to see Naruto begging out of fear, and pain filled him. He closed his eyes and leaned against the blonde's chest.

"Sasuke, what are we going to do?"

Sasuke grit his teeth. There was only one thing that was coming to his mind that would keep them both safe, but he didn't want to do it. Sasuke peaked out of the tarp and saw the boat a ways away now. He sat up, Naruto still underneath him. Looking down, blue orbs looked up at him, waiting for a plan. Sasuke closed his eyes and got off of Naruto. He sat down on the gravel and pulled the blonde into his lap. Naruto curled up next to him against the cool night breeze. Sasuke grabbed the tarp and pulled some of it over his lap, shielding the naked boy against the cool night air, and wrapped his arms protectively around his blonde. Naruto clutched at Sasuke's shirt.

"How long are you like this, Naruto?"

"Until dawn," he whispered back.

"I'll stay with you until then."

Naruto sat up and stared at Sasuke. "You're leaving me?!"

Sasuke stared back. "No, you're leaving."

Naruto stared. His tears threatened to come back at the mere thought of being alone again.

Sasuke saw this. His heart began wrenching in two. "If we separate, you can go back into the deeper areas of the ocean and you won't have to worry about being caught. I won't be worrying about you all the time too."

Naruto looked away. "It's all the same," he mumbled. "I'm always alone in the end."

Sasuke's heart gave another lurch. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the cord he had grabbed earlier that day. He held it in his hand. It was made of the same rope as the fishing nets, but it was braided together, holding two small seashells on either side of a larger shell. Both of the shells were no bigger than the end of Sasuke's fingers. He reached up and tied it around Naruto's neck. Naruto looked down and held up the shells in the pale light of the moon. Sasuke took advantage of the distraction and kissed Naruto on the cheek, gently. A tear slid down Naruto's face. It was the final piece to completely shatter Sasuke's heart, what little he had to begin with.

"Naruto, please, don't do that. We'll meet up in one year."

The blonde stared back, stubbornness shining in his eyes. "Promise?"

Sasuke stared back. He didn't know how he would keep this promise, but he couldn't stand to see Naruto like this. He finally understood it now. What he had been feeling all this month with the blonde was what he had lost all those years ago. The foreign feelings were heavy in him, but at Naruto's defiant glance, the weight disappeared and he smiled.

Naruto saw the small tug at the corner of Sasuke's lips as the raven looked down. The blonde stared harder. The small tug grew and Sasuke stopped fighting it. He looked up. Although it didn't reach his empty eyes, Naruto saw his first actual smile from Sasuke. It was small, but still a genuine smile.

"Yeah, it's a promise."

Naruto grinned broadly and laid back into Sasuke's chest. The raven wrapped his arms around the boy again, holding him close, wishing the night would never end.

Boats passed by many more times, causing both boys to have to hide under the tarp. When they were able to sit out in the moonlight, they just sat together, Naruto in Sasuke's lap. Sasuke was gently holding him and glancing down every now and then at a leg that was sticking out from the tarp wrapped around them both.

Dawn's eyes slowly started to open. Naruto begged for a few more minutes. He didn't want to leave again. He didn't want to wander the open ocean once more by himself. The blonde felt the familiar twitch in his legs and sides. He pushed out of Sasuke's lap quickly. The spasms started again. Sasuke put the tarp over Naruto's bare back and sat back, feeling the anger and helplessness wash over him once more as the boy started to scream in pain.

What felt like hours was mere minutes. Sasuke saw the blue tail sticking out from the tarp where muscled legs once did. His heart fell as he looked up at the sky. Even though the sun wouldn't rise for another 30 minutes. He knew Naruto had to leave quickly.

Gently, he unwrapped Naruto from the tarp. Gills once again moved feebly on the boy's side. He reached under the blonde and carefully picked him up.

Naruto opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck, who walked slowly towards the water. The cool shallows greeted his toes gently. He waded in. Naruto's tail started skimming the surface. The blonde moved in his arms. He stopped and looked down at his charge. Naruto looked up, sadness covering his face completely. They both knew that this was the best way, but neither of them wanted to do it. Sasuke continued walking. He waded up to his waist. Naruto's tail was already 1/3 under water. Sasuke let the blonde slide from his grip. Instead of falling to the bottom like the very first time they had met, Naruto slipped into the water and leaned into Sasuke's chest. Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto for the last time. The blonde looked up and kissed him. Their last kiss. When they ended. Sasuke slowly tore his arms away from Naruto and backed up. Their eyes locked.

"One year," Naruto stated.

Sasuke nodded.

Naruto gave a last, sad smile, and flipped under water. Sasuke watched as blue, silver, and gold slipped away from him under the water. When it passed through the gap, he turned and slowly walked back to shore, dropping the pieces of his heart that he had regained in the past month, back into the water to wash away with the one who had restored those forgotten pieces.

* * *

ok...soooo this is the end of the first part...the second part (or sequel) will be added after this chapter...but it'll be a little while (maybe like 2 months or more) because i'm starting to get a lot of school work again and i just don't like teh way the sequel part i've typed so far is going...so i might go back and re-do some of it...and i think i'm coming close to ending Frozen Chakra so i would like to concentrate on that lol

so if you would like to read teh sequel...please add this story to your alerts/favs so you'll be notified when the sequel is up...and warning...this sequel/second part takes place after about chapter 350 of the manga...so if you haven't read that far...then it's a lil advised to not read the sequel until you do...but i won't mention much of the manga events...jus in the very begining lol

reviews??


	7. part II ch 1

hello!! long time no see eh? but it's finally summer vacation!! woot!! almost 3 months off heck yeah!! lmao...but i spent all day typing on the sequel for this story so here ya go...the first part of the sequel lmao...and strangely...this is the COMPLETE opposite of what the original sequel turned out to be lmao

**warning**: this won't be mainly based around Sasuke's pov anymore...the plot line i got for this transitions better with the bouncing back and forth that i do (for those who've read my frozen chakra...it's the same way lmao) i jus seem to like to bounce back and forth between characters (no not as in so-and-so's pov then goin to joebob's pov..no i don't write that too much lol) u'll see what i mean when u get to reading lmao

**warning number 2**: if you have **NOT** read the naruto manga from chatper 350 on...it would be advised that you don't read this lmao...if u do read this though and you haven't read past 350 in the manga...please don't bug me asking who so-and-so is and all that...if ur so curious wikipedia it lol

**warning number 3**: i luv these warning things eh? but anyways...remember what i said at the beginning of this story (bet not so i'll repeat it lmao) if we run into team kakashi...there will be an oc for naruto's place...figured i'd warn ya lol...and no sakura (if we run into her) will NOT be a whiny bitch that u want to jus kill jus to shut her up lmao

**warning numb-**just kidding lmao

dis: if i owned naruto...i definitely wouldn't have thought up the twist that kishimoto did in chapter 400...that was an o.m.g. and left me speechless

o yea...one more thing...when u see this (...) that's a lovely lil break lol

* * *

"Sasuke, I'm not so sure we should go back into the Fire country, with your past and all," Karin warily commented.

Sasuke glared over his shoulder and continued running. The border between Oto and Konoha was fast approaching. The only difference in Sasuke and his company was the slight tenseness barely seen in their muscles. Other than that, they were just ordinary traveling ninjas, to the untrained eye that is.

Sasuke was quite aware of the danger of him even so much as stepping foot in his old country, yet the drive for revenge was even greater. A rumor of Itachi's whereabouts was from a fishing village not far on the other side of the border. They would at least reach the border by sunset and the town by well after nightfall.

…

The subdued poof didn't startle the wizened ninja. Jiraiya looked up as one of his toad scouts glared up.

"If you're here then there's something going on at the border?" the sannin grumbled.

"Uchiha Sasuke has just crossed into Konoha territory from Oto."

Jiraiya sat up. "Where was he heading?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but not far from where I was keeping watch is a small fishing village I reported to you about the rumor on Itachi."

"Is that all?"

"He has three others with him."

"Do you know who those three are?"

"Not right off."

The sannin's irritation showed, but he kept it to himself. "Thank you. Go back to your post and report on anything else."

The toad nodded and disappeared. Jiraiya didn't spare a second and immediately teleported to Tsunade's office.

"Damn it Jiraiya! I'm busy!" the blonde hollered.

"Sasuke's been spotted."

"Where?"

"The village that Itachi's been said to be seen in."

"That small village?" Tsunade sat back confused. "Sasuke should be smarter than to believe such a thing like that."

"Well, apparently he's going with it because one of my scouts just saw him entering from Oto with three others."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

The blonde rubbed her eyes. "I don't need to put up with this right now," she groaned and hollered for Shizune.

The younger girl hurried in, papers nearly falling from her arms.

"Which teams are closest to the Northeastern coastline?"

"Uh, I think Team 24 is about 3 days away and-."

"Do we have any near the Oto boundary?"

"Team Kakashi should be finishing up an escort mission near there, and they should be about a day away from it," Shizune answered.

"Is there any other team?" Tsunade demanded.

The other girl thought for a couple minutes. "No, the closest one is about 3-4 days away from the boundary, which is Team 24."

The two sannins looked at each other. They both knew that Team Kakashi was the last team they would send on this mission.

"If we're to catch him, or at least tail him, we need to get moving fast," Jiraiya stated.

Tsunade sighed. "I know, I just don't want to use them because of _that_ incident."

"They are the closest."

"What's going on?" Shizune asked.

Tsunade sighed once more and quickly unraveled a blank scroll. "Jiraiya," she dipped her brush in some ink, "can one of your toads carry this scroll directly to Kakashi?"

"Yes."

"Good."

…

Sasuke walked in irritation along the shore. The rumor had proven false, again. All these fake leads were starting to annoy the hell out of him. On top of it all, he had to come back to Konoha territory. Some one by now has surely seen him. He figured it'd take about a day for someone to arrive there for him, but that someone wasn't going to be much. So, he estimated that they had at least one more day to quickly locate some clue about Itachi. That's why he was alone now. That's why his irritation showed a little more than usual: a faint line in his mask.

The summer stars quietly shined down, but he paid them no heed. The moon had yet to rise, leaving the nearby water mass hidden. All thoughts were bent on Itachi's death.

He hopped over a small river, and stopped. "Any news, Suigetsu?"

A figure rose out of the water. "Damn, you spotted me."

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the pale boy.

Suigetsu sighed. "Absolutely nothing. The only thing I found was how slow my mind works when I'm tired."

Sasuke ignored him.

"C'mon Sasuke, we've been running for three days straight and now you have us hunting for Itachi like a nin-dog trying to catch a needle's scent in the ocean. We're all tired." Suigetsu's guard went up as he finished. Back talking Sasuke and telling him he was wrong just did not work, but it was the truth. All three of them were tired and Sasuke's mood was just getting worse and worse.

The Uchiha turned around. His glare made shivers run up Suigetsu's spine, but he didn't show anything.

Sasuke blinked. "Find the others. We'll rest at the nearby village's inn."

"Yes, a bed!" Suigetsu disappeared back into the water.

The raven glanced once at the ocean then meandered back to the village.

…

"Sensei, how much further?" Sakura hollered up.

Kakashi looked back. "Seven more hours."

Sakura's fist clenched. Sasuke was going to get it now, and this time no one was going to die on her watch.

…

The afternoon sun found Sasuke once again along the shoreline, but this time in a cove. It seemed to be an unconscious act of his because he never realized this was where he's been all day. Soon, the others would be meeting up with him near here. They had to leave before dusk if they wanted to leave unscathed and, hopefully, quietly.

His feet wandered closer to the waterline. Some boulders were jutting out into the current a little ways ahead and that's where his body was heading. His mind was elsewhere, trying to figure out what the hell to do next. The large grey masses were covered with algae towards their base, but clear at the top, which only came up to Sasuke's eye level. He hopped up and strolled out to the farthest rock and looked around. The calm sea shined like crystals, making the trees along the bay seem gloomy and withdrawn. No other presence was close by, that he could sense. The nin settled down on the last rock with the waves gently crashing against the grey mass, causing a faint mist. He looked up at the deep sky, shining blue overhead.

A faint chakra source appeared. Sasuke calmly looked towards the trees, but saw no movement. He activated his sharingan, nothing showed up in the trees. He looked along the edge of the rocks. Nothing. The source started moving faster. Sasuke's eyes trained on the shorelines farther away, still nothing. The source stopped moving; it wasn't far away now. He crouched on the rock, scanning the ocean's glaring surface, the sunlight casting shadows and glares off the water made it easy for anyone to hide in. The faint splashing of water directed his attention behind him, and he saw a dark mass sailing through the air right towards him. Sasuke jumped onto the other rock and looked out at sea to find the source. The dark blob plopped disgustingly right where he was previously standing.

"Damn it! Why do you ninjas have to be so aware of your surroundings?! That would've been so funny if it had hit your head, but no, you had to dodge."

Sasuke glared at the voice's owner. The blonde head bobbed in the swells.

A huge grin erupted on the blonde's face. "Hi teme. Long time no see."

Sasuke merely sighed and started walking back towards land.

Naruto swam right over to the rocks and floated on his back, following Sasuke. "No, 'hi bye' or 'what the hell are you doing here' or 'damn it dobe?'"

Sasuke ignored him, not once looking down.

"Not even a 'leave me the fuck alone?'" Naruto asked quietly.

"Leave me the fuck alone," Sasuke replied, monotonously.

Naruto froze, staring up at Sasuke's back as he walked off. "Over a year I haven't seen you, and this is your hello?"

Sasuke jumped onto the sand and continued walking to the trees.

"Why are you ignoring me? What did I do wrong?" Naruto asked himself.

He watched the Uchiha walk calmly towards the trees. The boy's dark clothing made him disappear quickly within the depths.

Sasuke continued walking quietly in the cool shade of the trees, his emotionless mask perfect. It had shocked him to see Naruto again, but that was it. No other emotion surfaced, except for irritation that someone could sneak up so close as to be able to throw something at him. He didn't even want to know what that dark mass was. Naruto's pained face popped into his mind, but he easily ignored it.

A chakra spike appeared and was hurtling straight towards him. Sasuke jumped out of the path quickly as a body hurled against a tree. The trunk broke clean in half. The person stood up and glared right at Sasuke as the tree fell loudly behind them.

"Uchiha Sasuke, I've found you at last."

* * *

sooooooooo...what do u think?? like norm i leave it at a cliffie lmao...reviews pretty please??

i jus jumped right into the story on this eh? lmao


	8. part II ch 2

hey look..an update lmao

remember...it's been a LONG time since i've worked on any kind of story so transition stuff may seem a lil more rough than my normal typings lol...and if we run into team 7 there'll be an oc for naruto's original place lol

dis: i don't own naruto...i jus own a naruto game lmao

* * *

Sasuke smirked. "You've found me. What took you so long, Sakura? You swore that you would hunt me down and make me pay. Those were your very words. It seems you've failed, again."

Her glare deepened. "Shut up. I swore you'd pay, and today you will." She knelt into an offensive stance.

Sasuke continued smirking. "How do you think you can defeat me, when even _he_ couldn't?"

"Shut up!" Sakura hollered and lunged at Sasuke. He merely dodged her punch as it obliterated yet another tree trunk. She quickly lunged once more at him and he kept easily evading.

Another tree was sacrificed. Sasuke jumped up onto the branch of a nearby tree. Sakura glared up.

"He was our friend, Sasuke! Why the hell did you do it?!"

"Our friend? He was no more than a hindrance and you know it."

"No he wasn't!"

"Then how do you explain the incident in the country of Waves? If it weren't for me, all three of us would've died."

"Kakashi-sensei would've saved us."

"Kakashi was busy fighting Zabuza."

Sakura's glare deepened. "You were no different than us, Sasuke," she hissed.

"No, I was different."

"Shut the fuck up, you conceited bastard! All you think about," she jumped and aimed for him, "is yourself!" The branch where Sasuke had stood broke into shards. She jumped towards him again and reached into her pouch, pulling out two kunai with explosive tags. Sasuke saw and started trying to get out of her aim. Sakura let the two kunai fly. One exploded behind Sasuke, the other above him, dislodging more branches, causing him to fall to the ground and avoid them there.

Sakura dropped down and started walking towards the mess. "We thought of you as a family, yet you go and do that to us."

Sasuke calmly looked at her as she approached.

"You're no better than Itachi."

He snapped. Sakura saw the anger flare and she went into a defensive stance. He lunged at her then disappeared. The girl looked around, but it was too slow. Sasuke appeared from her left and kicked her hard. She flew and slammed into a tree, falling to the ground on all fours, gasping desperately.

Sasuke strolled over, anger radiating off of him. "Don't you ever compare me to that man again."

Reaching her, he grabbed her arm and threw her up into the air, focused chakra in his right foot, and kicked her hard. She sailed fast, barely missing thick branches. Sasuke jumped after her body. The tree line came fast as she started to descend. Her body slammed against a boulder and fell into the ocean. The Uchiha paused at the water line. The foam from the waves against the boulders obstructed his view. Barely satisfied, he turned and ran off, hunting the others of his group down. They had to leave now.

Naruto heard the splash. Curious if Sasuke decided to join him, although he highly doubted. He wasn't even expecting an apology because if Sasuke did apologize for such a thing, then it would've been the end of the world. The blonde swam around the boulder and smelled it: blood. He looked around frantically. Where there's blood, sharks soon come. The current pushed his body back and forth as he looked around. Nothing was at that level. He dived deeper and saw it there. A human was lying on the bottom, blood streaming from them. Naruto grabbed the person and quickly hauled them to the surface.

The fresh air cooled his face quickly. He looked at his charge and noticed two things: one, the person was a girl. Two, said girl wasn't breathing.

Naruto kicked off towards the lowest boulder. When he got near it, he pushed the girl onto it the best he could and pulled himself up as well. She still wasn't breathing. He grabbed her wrist, and barely found a faint pulse. Dropping her hand, he quickly placed both hands on her lower chest and started pushing. After a few seconds, he breathed into her mouth the best he could, since he didn't have human lungs. He went back to pushing on her chest. After two more tries, she started coughing up water. Naruto quickly turned her onto her side. More water streamed out of her mouth with each cough, then she calmed down. He looked at her face, but her eyes were closed.

"Hey, are you awake?"

No reply. Naruto checked her pulse again and found it a little stronger. He sighed and slid back into the water, but stayed right at the base of the boulder, keeping an eye both on her and on the surroundings.

This was going to be a long afternoon.

He sighed.

Damn it, I wish that girl would hurry up and wake up.

Naruto's stomach growled in hunger.

He looked up past the water's surface. The girl was still lying in the position he had rolled her to when she had coughed up the water. He had no clue as to how long he had been watching over her in human terms, but all he knew was that it was a long damn time.

Better go up and check on her again.

He sighed and jumped out of the water, landing heavily onto the rock near her. His hip let out a little throb at the sudden weight and shock it had to catch, but Naruto ignored it. He scooted closer to the girl and checked her pulse again. It was stable, just like however long ago he had checked. Her breathing was normal too. Naruto sighed and stretched out on the rock beside her. The sun was strong, beating its heat down in constant waves upon the boulders. At first it was a little too hot to lie on, but Naruto's body adjusted.

The clouds passed lazily overhead. What Sasuke had said was replaying over and over in his mind. Naruto watched one cloud as it slowly rolled into a shape. His hand wandered towards his neck without his notice. He slowly rolled one of the seashells in between in his fingers. The rope of the necklace had turned a dark brown, almost black color from being constantly in the water, but the shells, speckled brown and white, still showed brightly.

Naruto sat up and stretched again. Sitting in the sun was making him really tired. He heard a faint smack sound and three bodies appeared around him, cool metal pushed against his neck.

"Who are you and what've you done to Sakura?"

Naruto stared at the one who spoke.

"More like what are you?" a younger boy added.

Naruto glared at the boy, who glared right back.

A blade pressed closer. "You didn't answer my questions."

Naruto directed his glare back towards the silver haired man. "All I did was pull her out of the ocean and help her cough up water."

The man's one visible eye narrowed. "And what are you still doing here?"

"Is it wrong to make sure someone will be all right after they nearly drown?" Naruto shot back.

"Why was she drowning to begin with?" the man growled back.

"I don't know. I heard a splash, smelled blood, and when I looked around she was sitting on the ocean floor. I brought her back to the surface and made her cough up the water. That's all I did."

The man glared at him. "Sai, Naoki, keep him here."

The man withdrew his blade and walked over towards Sakura. He checked her pulse then her head.

"How did she get these wounds?"

"I don't know," Naruto replied. "They were there when I found her."

"You don't think she…" The brown haired boy broke off.

The man felt along Sakura's back. "She has a couple broken ribs too. It could be possible that she fought him." He looked up at Naruto. "Did you see her fighting with anyone?"

Naruto shook his head. "I was underwater, so I didn't see a thing. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," the man said with a sigh. He signaled to the other two boys and they lowered their weapons. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. These are Sai," he motioned to the pale boy, "and Naoki." The boy who asked Naruto what he was nodded. "We're Sakura's teammates. Thank you, for saving her."

Naruto blinked. No one had really thanked him for years, he had nearly forgotten what to do. He scratched the back of his head. "You're welcome, I guess. I was just doing what I thought was right," he mumbled.

"What's your name?" Kakashi asked.

"Naruto."

"Well, Naruto, you thought right. How long has she been up here?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know how you humans keep track of time, so I don't really know."

"What are you anyways?" Naoki piped up.

Naruto glared at him.

"What?"

"Haven't you heard of anything called manners?" Naruto growled.

"It was just a simple question," Naoki growled back.

"Naoki, stop it."

The boy glared at Kakashi but kept quiet.

The jounin looked at Naruto. "Would you mind telling us, please?"

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. "Since you asked nicely, unlike someone," he shot a glare at Naoki, "the word you humans would use is merman."

Naruto saw a huge smirk appear on Naoki's face. He glared at the boy who had to hide laughter behind his hand.

"It's not me who comes up with the words, human," Naruto growled at him.

Sai walked calmly over to his teammate and hit him hard across the head.

"I'm sorry about that," Kakashi told Naruto.

"It's not that big of a deal," the blonde muttered.

Kakashi looked down at Sakura's unconscious body.

"Um, if you want," they looked at Naruto, "I know of a cave near here. I know that she's hit her head a little too hard and it would be dangerous to move her too much. This cave is only accessible by land when it's low tide. If you hurry, you should be able to make it to the entrance before too much water makes it hard to get to. The surrounding rocks prevent too many waves from hitting it too."

They all stared at him.

"Or not," Naruto grumbled. "Sheesh, it was only a suggestion." He started scooting towards the edge.

"Wait, this cave, is the only entrance the one you speak of, or is there another?" Kakashi inquired.

"I'm not sure if there is another in the back because I can't do much exploring as you can tell," he held up his tail. "But whenever I stay in there, I occasionally catch a whiff of fresh air, not sea air."

"Is it far from here?" Kakashi asked again.

Naruto shook his head and pointed towards a nearby piece of land and boulders jutting farther into the water. "It's just amongst those rocks."

Kakashi glanced at Sakura again then sighed. "Please take us there."

Naruto smiled and dropped into the ocean. The cool water greeted his body and gills happily. He stuck his head above water again. "Are you coming or not?"

The three guys looked down at him. Kakashi stood up and jumped down, landing on top of the water. Once the jounin was in control, he looked up. Sai and Naoki gently picked up Sakura and slowly handed her down to Kakashi. He gently grabbed her, aware of her head injury, and held her bridle style. The other two jumped down near him.

"We're going to have to hurry a little bit because your chakra on the water surface like that is a little dangerous. It attracts sharks and other predators like moths to a flame, as you humans would say."

They nodded. Naruto ducked under and slowly started off. The other three were close by. He went faster and they kept up. Naruto started swimming even harder. He didn't want them to attract too many sharks, since he's the one who'll be stuck in the water. The three ninja kept up. The boulders near the shoulder of land were closing in fast. He weaved through them, heading straight for the cave.

Near the entrance, he surfaced again and looked around. They were nowhere to be seen. He let out a sharp whistle. The three ninjas soon appeared on the rocks above him.

"You're fast," Naoki commented.

Naruto glared slightly. He really didn't like that boy. "That wasn't even close to my fastest. This is the cave I was talking about."

Kakashi motioned to Sai and the pale boy jumped down and walked in. After a few minutes he walked back out.

"There is a back entrance where a small river comes into this cave. No one else is in here."

The other two jumped down and joined him. Naruto stayed out in the water. The tide was still coming in, but it'd be well after sunset before he could safely join them. His stomach growled loudly.

About damn time I can get away from her. I'm starving.

…

"Sasuke, why don't we head inland?" Karin suggested.

Sasuke ignored her and kept running. They were heading towards the border. The Uchiha didn't want to take any chances by staying any longer in the Fire country, especially with his old team being the ones to get to him first.

Karin and Suigetsu exchanged glances, but kept running. They had noticed that Sasuke kept looking out towards the ocean more often than not. Something was on his mind that was bugging him. Whatever it was, they figured, meant bad luck for them.

…

Naruto coasted into the cave opening. The tide wasn't high yet, but it was getting there. He slipped his head above the surface. An orange glow was coming around the bend. He followed it and saw their fire. Kakashi was still sitting up, on guard, while the other two slept. Naruto felt the cave bottom and stopped, lying down in the warm water.

"How long have they been out?" he asked quietly.

Kakashi glanced at him. "Not that long."

"Has Sakura-chan woke up yet?"

Kakashi shook his head no.

"How'd she get so beat up?"

"We're thinking she ran into the person we're tracking."

"Who?"

Kakashi stared at him. "That's not for you to know."

Naruto ducked his head down. "Sorry."

The fire snapped as a couple logs shifted. Naruto stared at the flames. He had seen them from afar, but never up close. Sasuke had never made a fire when he was with him. Sasuke had never even stayed past dark with him, except for their last night together. Naruto let out a deep sigh.

"Something the matter?" Kakashi asked.

"It's nothing," Naruto muttered.

"Your face says otherwise," the man retorted.

"Damn it! How come everyone can read my face like a book?!"

Kakashi smiled. "Sorry."

"No, it's not your fault," Naruto replied, looking once again at the fire. "I just ran into someone I haven't seen for a year and they treated me like shit. I don't even know what I did wrong."

"I thought you didn't understand human time keeping?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shot him a 'duh' look and replied: "I'm well aware that 12 moons is your year. I've been near the surface long enough to figure that out."

Kakashi's eye showed his confusion. "Are you-."

Sakura stirred, letting out a groan. Kakashi went to her side immediately. She slowly opened her eyes as she rubbed her head.

"Where am I?"

"In a cave, safe," Kakashi replied.

Sakura tried sitting up, but Kakashi held her down. "You've got a mild concussion, don't move around too much."

She relaxed and closed her eyes.

"Would you mind telling me what happened?" Kakashi asked quietly.

She swallowed. "Can I have some water first?"

Kakashi held a water canteen out to her. She took it and chugged down large gulps. By the time she handed it back to him, it was half empty.

"I found him," she stated.

"Did you start to fight him?"

There was no answer.

"Sakura, I told all of you to not start a fight with him by yourselves. I never imagined you of all people would disobey," Kakashi said with irritation.

"I'm sorry, sensei, but his guard was down."

"Apparently not by much," Kakashi mumbled.

"The last thing I remember was falling into the ocean. How'd I get out?" she asked, changing the subject.

Kakashi sighed. He was going to save the lecture for next time. "An unexpected person saved you," he answered.

Sakura stared up at him, confused. Kakashi looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with Naruto. He motioned for the blonde to come up. Naruto sighed and rolled over onto his back and scooted up the floor until he was beside Sakura. She looked up at him, a small blush apparent on her face, as well as some confusion.

"Hello," Naruto said with a big grin.

* * *

sooooo i made this chapter extra long jus to get rid of this filler text...the next chapter we'll find out what sasuke did...or shall i say u'll find out since i already know since i typed this lmao


	9. part II ch 3

long time for an update but o well...even though it's short here it is lol...we find out what this world's sasuke did (or whatever u wanna call it lmao)

dis: don't own naruto

* * *

"Hello. I guess I owe you a thanks, huh?"

"Nah, it's no big deal," Naruto replied.

"Well, thank you anyways."

The blonde scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.

"Sakura! You're awake!"

All three of them jumped at Naoki's shout. Sakura cringed from and glared at the boy who'd ran over.

"Don't shout, baka!" she hissed.

Naruto twitched his tail, but it didn't budge much. The heavy weight Naoki didn't even realize it yet either.

"Naoki," Kakashi warned.

"Wha-." He didn't get to finish as he fell backwards and rolled right into the water.

"Watch where you're going next time!" Naruto growled, rubbing his sore tail.

"What the hell was that for!" the other boy shouted.

Sakura cringed.

"You were standing on my tail, that's what," Naruto shouted back.

"Cut it out!" Sakura nearly hollered, then cringed, rubbing her head slightly.

Both boys stared at her fearfully, and Naruto scooted away a little.

Kakashi sighed.

"Why do you two always fight," Sai asked.

Sakura sighed and opened her eyes again, and looked towards Naruto saying: "Why did you…say tail?" she finished quietly. Her gaze was locked on his blue scales, glimmering in the firelight.

"What are you?" she asked.

Naruto sighed. "For the millionth time, I'm a merman."

Naoki snorted. Naruto shot a glare at him.

"A what?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"A merman. See?" Naruto raised his arm closest to her so she could see his gills.

Sakura gasped and tried to touch the large slits. Naruto scooted closer so she could actually reach. Her fingers gently rested on them. She felt the roughened skin open and close beneath her fingers.

"Amazing," she gasped. "Are you able to breath both air and through the water?"

Naruto nodded. "But not so much of air. We only breath a little air to help us survive above water for a short amount of time, and to be able to talk to you humans. We don't really need air to survive."

"You get your oxygen through the water then?" Sakura asked.

Naruto's head tilted. "Oxygen? What's that?"

"It's what our bodies need to survive, or at least the human body," Sakura answered.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that I can't stay out of water for a long time."

Naoki finally clambered out of the water and squatted down by the fire, shivering slightly.

Sakura removed her hand from Naruto's gills. "I never thought people like you existed."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well, we're not supposed to reveal ourselves to humans. You guys are going to keep this quiet, aren't you?"

"And if we don't?" Naoki griped.

Naruto looked him dead in the eye. "I'll be killed by my own kind."

"What? Why?" Sakura asked.

Naruto scooted back into the water. His chest rose deeply as his gills kissed the water. "To help keep our kind a secret. You humans would easily kill us. We've already been forced to go deeper into the ocean because of the dwindling fish population. Your nets take our food, and sometimes our lives. Just last year I was caught by your nets and placed on display. If it weren't for Sasuke, I would've most likely died."

The four nins froze.

"Did you just say 'Sasuke'?" Sakura asked.

Naruto nodded, confused.

"As in Uchiha Sasuke?" she continued.

Naruto hesitantly nodded, his guard up. He pushed himself farther back into the water.

Kakashi looked right at Naruto. "How do you know Sasuke?"

"He's a friend, why?"

"If he's your friend, as you say he is, did he tell you anything about what he did?" Naoki spat out.

Naruto stared at them and shook his head. "We both didn't talk about our pasts."

"Ch, figures," Naoki glared back into the fire, his back towards them.

"Naruto, did Sasuke tell you anything about what he did?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shook his head no.

Kakashi sighed and looked at Sakura before continuing. "It'd probably be best if you did know. About 3 years ago, Sasuke was our teammate, but he left the village, in search of more power. A team was quickly put together and one of our other teammates, Souta, was placed on that team to go after him. Naoki was on the team as well. After a lot of problems, Souta was able to get to Sasuke at the Valley of the End, near the Fire Country's borders. They fought there. Souta's job was to bring Sasuke back alive, but Sasuke had other plans.

"I had just gotten back from a mission when I heard from our Hokage that she had sent out Souta, Naoki, and the others after Sasuke. I went after them, but I didn't make it in time. When I arrived at the Valley of the End, Souta was dead, and Sasuke was no where to be found."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't understand," he whispered, backing farther into the water.

"What about it don't you understand?!" Naoki shouted, standing up. "That bastard killed his own teammate just so he could get more power!"

Naruto still shook his head in disbelief, "No, that's not the Sasuke I know. That's not my Sasuke."

Sakura sat slowly up and looked at Naruto, sadness filling her eyes. "I didn't believe it at first either, Naruto-kun, until I saw Souta's body. He had the wounds from many of Sasuke's techniques, and I also ran into him again today. We fought. Sasuke's the one who gave me these injuries and kicked me into the ocean."

"No, I don't believe you!" Naruto whipped around and disappeared underwater.

They watched the last flick of his tail as he went around the bend.

"I wish we didn't have to tell him that," Sakura whispered.

"Why, we might've just saved his life," Naoki retorted, sitting back down by the fire.

Naruto raced through the boulders and out to the open sea.

That's not my Sasuke. He wouldn't do something like that to his own teammate.

If his tears could be seen underwater, a river would've been pouring down his face. He sped on, not caring where he was going, pushing himself harder and faster, as far away from land as he could get. He looked up through the water and saw the half moon.

That's not my Sasuke!

* * *

sooooo as u probably guessed...this souta dude was the oc for naruto's place on team 7 and so naoki has taken souta's place and sai's taken sasuke's place like in teh manga lol

i'm having a hard time getting back into writing..which suxs...and so there's the explanation for y these sequel chapters sound so rough and choppy...it's gotten hard for me to write!! :sobs:

and i was sooo disappointed...no reviews for the last chapter...i mean c'mon...u broke my heart there lol


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